This is why we should tax them with a 5.3% surtax that Obama has proposed, gotta hit the people with the money...

Aaron thats just retarded, didn't you read how many fail. Just because they employ people doesn't mean they have money - that's right lets tax em, up the failure rate and create even more unemployment when collectively the nations biggest employers go out of business even faster!!

Exactly, small businesses' taxes are filed by the owner which is actually filed as their PERSONAL taxes. So if a company makes $250,000 in a year and most of it (75% plus) being overhead and payroll, these people are going to have their taxes raised. Thanks, we small business owners appreciate it. I made next to nothing last year and I will probably be in the hole but somehow I will always push on. That is the entrepreneurial spirit.

the "99% of minority owned businesses are small businesses" seems to mean that minorities can just own small businesses. But... 99.7% of businesses are small businesses (as shown uppper in the document). So it seems to mean that, statistically, minorities own more large businesses than the average.

The reason so many small businesses are "owned" by minorities, is that they get preference on government contracts. When I worked in construction in DC, I discovered a lot of "minority owned" businesses that were only minority owned in name and no more.

I hate to be this way, especially since this information is very valuable, but please learn the difference between "less" and "fewer".

I make plenty of mistakes, especially with grammar and spelling, but if nobody called me on them I wouldn't learn either.

The preference on government contracts typically requires that the business be registered with specific government programs, like the Small Business Administration's 8(a) program. But those programs typically have an expiration tied to the company's growth and/or length of membership in the program.

I've heard of large businesses taking advantage of loopholes and lax oversight in small business programs by buying small businesses and bidding on contracts through those small businesses. Technically, the capabilities, resources and size of the larger business accrues for the small business, which should take them out of contention for preference but they don't get ferreted out.

John, if the small business has 250K of income but pays out most of it in payroll, than the owner (or owners) will not be taxed at 250K, they are taxed on what's left after expenses including payroll. This is a fallacy that was perpetuated during the "Joe the Plumber" media circus.

I'm a part owner in a 20-person S-corp. The only time we get screwed is if we have to carry a big profit one year to cover an expected loss the next year (due to our product cycle being around 2 years), where we get taxed on the money even though we have to hold on to it to make payroll the following year. For businesses with more steady cash flow (which I think is more common), this is not a problem, and there are various R&D tax write-offs to help with it.

On another note, one of our biggest expenses is health care. While our competitors in Europe and Japan probably pay more in taxes, they also pay way less or nothing on health care. In my opinion, the Democrats completely screwed up an opportunity to present health-care reform as pro-business, which would have helped sell it to independents and moderate Republicans. Health care being tied to employment also ties people down to jobs and makes them less likely to risk starting new businesses or relocating to join risky startups in emerging sectors. This, plus the fact that so many people are stuck in underwater mortgages, makes our labor market less flexible and less able to deal with changing situations. If we can't find a way to fix this, it'll keep the economy from recovering.

That's too optimistic stats. 8 out 10 fail.

This is very interetsing information. Does anyone know where I can get similar info about South African small business?

Aaron, you are being sarcastic, right! If small businesss are supply over 50% of the jobs. give them tax credits to grow and add employees. I started my business 11 yerars ago, and I pay plenty of taxes!

This is an amazing graphic. Thanks for the post!!!

What they do NOT tell you is what failure is a part of being successful. In John C. Maxwell’s great book “Failing Forward” he states that the average number of failures for serial entrepreneurs is 3.8 times before they make it in business. They do not get deterred or see themselves as a failure, they see failure is a part of growing and learning, to become a better entrepreneurs. “Failure” really is redefined as “testing,” you test and keep testing until you succeed.

I agree with Michael Garmahis..8 out of 10 fail.

This is a great graphic, but the info isn't really a surprise. Our culture likes the small businessman against the large corporation, so its no surprise we support and trust them a little more. Small business and local franchise owners are the everyman. Anyone can reinvent themselves. That is the draw. I'll leave you with this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hk9Hn0FFUus