Small Business Saturday!

We have many things to be thankful for here in New Hampshire, plenty of natural resources from the ocean to the lakes & rivers and majestic mountains, all within close proximity. One thing we don't talk about as often is our local small businesses. U.S. Small Business Association (SBA) defines a small business as having 500 employees or less.

99.9% of all U.S. businesses?are made up of 500 employees or less, according to the US Small Business Association, and 99.7% of firms with paid employees.

In 2022 the number of small businesses in the U.S. reached 33.2 million, making up nearly all (99.9%) of U.S. Businesses. This figure results in a 2.2% increase from the previous year, and the number of small businesses grew 12.2% from 2017 to 2022.

It's interesting to note that 27 million small businesses do not hire any employees and 5.4 million businesses have fewer than 20 employees.

There are currently 61.7 million small business employees in the U.S. workforce.

As you can see from the above, the strong U.S. economy in recent years has nurtured many opportunities for entrepreneurs, with the number of small businesses in the U.S. on the rise.

From 1995 — 2020, small businesses accounted for 62%—12.7 million of new jobs compared to 7.9 million by large enterprises in the U.S.

So how do we look up here in New Hampshire?

Here in New Hampshire, we have 137,811 small businesses making up 99% of all New Hampshire Businesses. Nearly half of all New Hampshire employees (49.8%) work at a small business, according to Statistics of U.S. Businesses (Census). These small businesses provide employment to over 304,765 employees.

Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services are the leading industries for New Hampshire small businesses, with 21,207 or 15.38% of small businesses. Construction (20,484), ?Real Estate, Rental & Leasing (14,906), Other Services (except Public Administration) (13,716), and Retail Trade (12,595) are New Hampshire small businesses' second, third, fourth, and fifth leading industries.

85.3% of businesses that export goods in New Hampshire are small businesses exporting goods worth $1.8 billion from 2018-2019. There are 2,181 small business exporters that are responsible for 31.3% of New Hampshire's $5.6 billion in export revenue.

New Hampshire Business Demographics:

• Women make up 47.6% of workers and 40% of business owners.
• Veterans make up 6.2% of workers and 8.7% of business owners.
• Racial minorities make up 5.1% of workers and 3% of business owners.

Between 2020 and 2021, 1,276 new small businesses started up, creating 4,137 new jobs.

I've always felt that New Hampshire is one of New England's most business-friendly states. The state has a low tax burden with no sales of income taxes (and the absence of at least half a dozen other taxes.) The unemployment rate in New Hampshire for 2022 was 2.4%. New Hampshire is also ranked second in the nation for access to funding.

It's funny when I look back to when I graduated from Stonehill College in Massachusetts. I started my career at Coopers & Lybrand, an international CPA Firm in Boston. During that time frame, I was able to perform numerous accounting, auditing, and consulting services throughout a wide assortment of companies, both large and small.

After I left Coopers & Lybrand, I started a small property management, rentals, and property maintenance business in the Waterville Valley Region.

Since leaving Waterville, I have been operating a small business selling real estate in the Lakes Region for the past 46 years which I have thoroughly enjoyed.

Looking back — the vast majority of my life has entailed operating a small business. It has been good to me and my family. So here's s toast to Small Business Saturday!

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This article was written by Frank Roche, president of Roche Realty Group in Meredith & Laconia, NH. Frank can be reached at (603) 279-7046. Please feel free to visit?www.RocheRealty.com?to learn more about the Lakes Region and its real estate market.