Small Business Entrepreneurships In The United States

Abstract

A small business entrepreneur is defined as an individual who establishes and manages a business for the principal purpose of profit and growth. Small businesses constitute an increasingly large proportion of businesses generally in the United States’ economy. They account for 39 per cent of the United States’ gross national product and create two out of every three new jobs in our economy. Seven important prerequisites are identified as being necessary for successfully operating a small business. These include adequate financing, qualified personnel, efficient operation and production, marketing and sales, customer service, information management and administration. One of the most significant contributors to failure of a small business relates to acquisition of adequate capital. Small Business Administration (SBA) was established by Federal Government in 1953 to provide low interest loans to small business borrowers that would not otherwise have access to credit. However, there is some criticism that these SBA programs unfairly benefit, not the small businesses, but the financial institutions that participate in the SBA loan programs. Another significant source of debt financing to small businesses is known as ‘micro-financing,’ started as new wave in providing capital to small businesses by the Nobel Peace Prize winner, Muhammad Yunus, in Bangladesh.