“Cultivate the habit of being grateful for every good thing that comes to you, and to give thanks continuously. And because all things have contributed to your advancement, you should include all things in your gratitude.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
The annual national holiday of Thanksgiving for many businesses is the official start of the holiday shopping season. For some businesses, this period represents their peak sales for the year. But there are many reasons why I’m grateful to be a small business owner in the U.S. (The following is adapted from an earlier blog.)
Reasons Thanksgiving holds special significance for business owners:
Freedom
In the U.S. just about anyone can become an entrepreneur. You don’t need a college degree (only 44% of entrepreneurs do) or have a pedigree (80% of billionaires are self-made). All it takes to get started is an idea, some capital, and grit. In other countries, students are pigeon-holed early in their lives and may become locked into careers that don’t support entrepreneurship.
Statistics in the U.S. show that whether you’re a women, minority group member, veteran, foreign born, or any other so-called minority, you can become a business owner. For example, women own 42% of nonemployee businesses (10% of employee firms). Nearly one in five businesses (18%) have been started by foreign-born individuals, but some industries have high representation (e.g., 37% of food services; 24% of retail trade).
Opportunities
Entrepreneurship is celebrated and supported in many quarters. Some examples:
- Entrepreneurship programs in colleges and universities. For many years, I taught an undergraduate class in Principles of Entrepreneurship. There are many undergraduate programs in entrepreneurship and small business in the U.S.; U.S. News lists the top 50. There are also dozens of graduate-level programs in entrepreneurship.
- Business plan competitions. There are monetary prizes for the best plans (e.g., Rice Business Plan Competition on May 11-13, 2023, for graduate-level plans). Check the Business Plan Contest Directory from the Global Entrepreneurship Institute to find worldwide competitions.
Doing good
Small business owners contribute substantially to the economy and their communities in a number of ways, including:
- Employing workers. Small businesses employ nearly half of all workers (46.8%) in the U.S., according to SBA statistics from last year (there are not statistics for 2022).
- Creating jobs for others. Small businesses help create jobs in other companies by utilizing their goods and services. The existence of small businesses in a community helps improve the local economy and, thus, jobs there.
- Doing charitable work. Small businesses contribute cash, property, and time to help various charities. It’s been estimated that about 75% of small businesses donate to charity, with the average donation of about 6% of profits. In fact, many businesses advertise that a percentage of revenue or profit goes to charity. Some donate inventory, such as Bombas, which donates one pair of socks for every pair sold.
Charitable activities are also good for your own business. LegalZoom identifies these benefits:
- Boosting morale and create respect for you, the owner
- Creating goodwill with customers and the community
- Building camaraderie among employees
- Improving your community
- Networking with leaders in your community
Final thoughts
Thanksgiving is a time to express thanks to those around us—family and friends as well as employees, customers, and vendors. There are greeting cards, such as this card from Amazon that you can use to express gratitude to customers and vendors.
I know I’m grateful to you, my readers, and to all the people who I interact with in the course of my business day.
