Venture Forward Q3/Q4 - 2023

Welcome to the GoDaddy Venture Forward newsletter! Here we will share our latest data, insights, articles and news about microbusinesses and small businesses. Venture Forward is a GoDaddy research initiative established in 2018 to study the impact of online microbusinesses on their local economies (GoDaddy defines microbusinesses as small businesses with a unique domain, an active website, and most often fewer than ten employees).

Venture Forward supports GoDaddy’s mission to empower entrepreneurs everywhere, making opportunity more inclusive for all. We believe the more we uncover and learn about entrepreneurs and their microbusinesses, the better we can support them and advocate for their success. That’s why we strive to share data and insights that are easily accessible and timely across the U.S. and U.K. (and soon additional countries).

At GoDaddy, we believe the more we uncover and learn about entrepreneurs and their microbusinesses, the better we can support them and advocate for their success.??

We’ll publish this newsletter on a quarterly basis and invite you to share a fun statistic from below or welcome other small business advocates to subscribe, too.??

Alexandra Rosen?

Sr. Director, Venture Forward?

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Microbusiness Data Hub? ?

Our microbusiness data hub now features refreshed information from the third quarter of 2023, including microbusiness density data, entrepreneur survey results, and intelligence on U.S. microbusiness industry and commerce.??

Entrepreneur Survey Results for the U.S. and U.K.?

The results from our latest U.S. and U.K. surveys are in, and the takeaway is clear: Life is better as an entrepreneur, and microbusinesses help close gaps.?

• 63% of U.S. and U.K. microbusiness owners agree that life is better as an entrepreneur, and this number is even higher for those who go all-in and are full-time.?
• Microbusiness owners in the U.S. are older than those in the U.K. 22% of U.S. microbusiness owners are baby boomers while only 12% of U.K. microbusiness owners are part of that generation.?
• One in six microbusines owners earn more than $100K or ￡180 per year.?
• Women microbusiness owners are closing the gender gap. Women own about half (51%) of microbusinesses surveyed in the U.S., and the U.K. is catching up — women own 42% of microbusinesses surveyed in the U.K., with 33% growth in the last two years. Of the 15% of U.S. microbusinesses owned by Black entrepreneurs, 68% are owned by Black women. ?
• In both the U.S. and U.K., one in four microbusiness owners operate more than one business.??
• Microbusiness owners in both the U.S. and U.K. bet on themselves with confidence, consistently expressing a more positive outlook for their business compared to the overall economy.??

Read more... ?

GoDaddy Venture Forward U.S. Report Summer 2023? ?

Encompassing the past two quarterly data insights on microbusinesses, year-over-year e-commerce trends, and updated economic impact by microbusiness entrepreneurs, the U.S. Summer 2023 report includes insights about:?

• The top areas experiencing growth with ranks by city and a highlight of the double-digit growth in rural regions.?
• The major impact microbusinesss have on the larger economy.??
• New research on U.S. small business owners’ perspective on the American Dream.??
• A glimpse into how advocates for entrepreneurs apply Venture Forward research to support entrepreneurs and their aspirations.? ?

Read more... ? ?

Data Forward ?

Data Forward is a data-driven content series that explores microbusiness trends and insights informed by GoDaddy’s Venture Forward research initiative. Read some of our latest Data Forward posts below:?

GenZ and Millennial Microbusiness Owners are Taking the Lead in Microbusiness Entrepreneurship?

There’s a generational shift happening between the long-term desires of Gen Z and millennial and baby boomer microbusiness owners. Less than half (47%) of baby boomers hope to turn their business into their primary source of income, while a whopping 77% of Gen Z and millennials want to turn their business into their primary source of income.???

Read more... ?

Microbusinesses mean more money for more than their owners?

Venture Forward research found, when analyzing the most recent U.S. Census data (2021), that counties with a microbusiness density (microbusinesses/100 people) change of 1, when holding other factors constant, also improved median household income by $489 in the area on average during the following year.?

Read More... ?

Black women are the fastest-growing of microbusiness owners?

The soaring rate at which Black U.S. entrepreneurs start businesses is one of the biggest economic success stories of the post-pandemic era. The fastest-growing ownership segment in the February 2023 survey was Black women, who increased their share from 8% to 13% since 2019.?

Read More... ?

GoDaddy and Kaggle Host Competition to Forecast Microbusiness Growth in America ? ?

GoDaddy recently wrapped up its Kaggle Microbusiness Density Forecasting Competition , bringing together nearly 3,500 teams and 4,000 data scientists from more than 90 countries to accelerate the future of entrepreneurship.??

The Kaggle competitors set out to forecast microbusiness activity across the U.S. by modeling microbusiness density over time, leveraging new data sources and methodologies. Their insights could be helpful in economic planning and GoDaddy’s future Venture Forward research. The competition also exposed the data to new audiences and demonstrated the many ways the data can be applied and combined.??

Kaggle participants created a reliable linear model predictor of microbusiness density, showing a consistent annual growth rate of 3.5%. Competition winners introduced innovative methodologies to measure microbusiness growth, including:?

• Transformation strategies to rethink how GoDaddy normalizes microbusiness counts and determines growth rates.?
• Data models relying on a nearest-neighbor approach – suggesting centralized economies of microbusinesses that grow and adapt together.??
• Data models that achieve stationarity, a condition necessary for microbusiness forecasting to be valid and usable.?

Thank you to Google’s Kaggle for the partnership and to all who participated, and congratulations to the winners!?

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About GoDaddy Venture Forward? ?

GoDaddy's Venture Forward research initiative analyzes more than 20 million online businesses with a digital presence (measured by a unique domain and an active website). Most of these businesses employ fewer than 10 people, classifying each as a microbusiness. While they may be small, their economic impact is outsized even though they often don’t show up in traditional government statistics.??

Since 2018, Venture Forward surveyed more than 30,000 small business owners with a digital presence, making it the premiere source for microbusiness data and insights. ?