As Ian Dale says, "We are always glad to hear good news, for a change ..."
However, however ...
I am now retired but before retirement I ran a small CPA firm for about forty years. In that context I came in contact with many folks who were small business folk. Many of them set out in their businesses for the best reasons, flourished and grew.
There were, however, a very noticeable number who ended up in small businesses of their own simply because they couldn't find a reasonable job for their skills. Quite a number of these folk also ended up flourishing. But. A noticeable number of them felt forced into self employment because they couldn't find what the, really wanted - traditional employment - and, despite perhaps having employees, kept looking for that traditional relationship. The truth is, running a business is hard; you need not simply your skill set (be it accounting, plumbing, carpentry, etc., etc., etc.) but you also need to learn bookkeeping, dealing with the government, how to finance the activities of your business, how to sell yourself and your skillset, etc.
In other words, not everyone finds small business to be their niche. So, I wonder what portion of those new small businesses that you see in your statistics are "willing and enthusiastic" businesses and how many are "forced" small businesses.
Sorry to be a wet blanket on your analysis and I recognize that the statistics simply cannot answer my question. Notwithstanding my question, yes, I agree with you that the simple fact of an increased number of small businesses is very encouraging. But, I cannot help wondering.
My guess is that most of the players in the business categories I looked at (i.e., 5-19 employees and 500+ employees) were there as a first choice. But you're certainly correct to suspect that those numbers are probably "hiding" a wide range of origin stories and important trends.
As Ian Dale says, "We are always glad to hear good news, for a change ..."
However, however ...
I am now retired but before retirement I ran a small CPA firm for about forty years. In that context I came in contact with many folks who were small business folk. Many of them set out in their businesses for the best reasons, flourished and grew.
There were, however, a very noticeable number who ended up in small businesses of their own simply because they couldn't find a reasonable job for their skills. Quite a number of these folk also ended up flourishing. But. A noticeable number of them felt forced into self employment because they couldn't find what the, really wanted - traditional employment - and, despite perhaps having employees, kept looking for that traditional relationship. The truth is, running a business is hard; you need not simply your skill set (be it accounting, plumbing, carpentry, etc., etc., etc.) but you also need to learn bookkeeping, dealing with the government, how to finance the activities of your business, how to sell yourself and your skillset, etc.
In other words, not everyone finds small business to be their niche. So, I wonder what portion of those new small businesses that you see in your statistics are "willing and enthusiastic" businesses and how many are "forced" small businesses.
Sorry to be a wet blanket on your analysis and I recognize that the statistics simply cannot answer my question. Notwithstanding my question, yes, I agree with you that the simple fact of an increased number of small businesses is very encouraging. But, I cannot help wondering.
My guess is that most of the players in the business categories I looked at (i.e., 5-19 employees and 500+ employees) were there as a first choice. But you're certainly correct to suspect that those numbers are probably "hiding" a wide range of origin stories and important trends.
We are always glad to hear good news, for a change, and especially good news that is not all puffery.