sbm-admin's blog

Small businesses are the backbone of our economy, driving nearly half of GDP and employing 59 million Americans. Yet rising costs—from healthcare to rent to tariffs—are putting enormous pressure on entrepreneurs and their employees. Entrepreneurs like Margo Clayson in Idaho and Megan Wyatt in California are feeling the pinch as tariffs drive up costs, forcing them to make tough choices about prices, jobs, and survival. Our latest blog explores how these policies ripple through Main Street and why Small Business Majority is fighting to ensure small businesses remain the true engine of our economy.

When the COVID-19 pandemic brought the world to a halt in 2020, small businesses faced enormous challenges—but they also showed remarkable resilience. Small Business Majority quickly mobilized with daily webinars, timely research, and strong advocacy to ensure entrepreneurs had the resources and support they needed. From amplifying small business voices in the media to pushing for fairer relief programs, our work during this period continues to shape policies today. Read how small businesses navigated the pandemic.

When Jay-Mee Del Rosario immigrated from the Philippines as a child, her path to entrepreneurship was filled with obstacles—from being denied college due to her immigration status to facing limits on growing her California metals distribution business without U.S. citizenship. Her story reflects the systemic barriers immigrant entrepreneurs continue to face, despite making up nearly 1 in 5 new businesses and contributing significantly to our economy. At Small Business Majority, we’re working to remove these barriers—whether through advocating for fair licensing laws, expanding healthcare access, or pushing for meaningful immigration reform—so immigrant entrepreneurs can fully participate in and strengthen our economy.

Access to childcare isn’t a concern that’s limited to parents—it’s also a business issue. Across the country, small business owners and their employees struggle to find and afford quality childcare, forcing too many caregivers to choose between their jobs and their families. In fact, according to Small Business Majority’s 2024 national poll, 58% of entrepreneurs report that childcare challenges have made it harder to start their business, while 59% say these challenges have slowed their growth. For more than one in four, the impact was even more severe and they were forced to close their business altogether.

Nearly 80% of small business owners support a national paid family and medical leave (PFML) program, yet in the absence of federal action, states are stepping up. Small Business Majority has been at the forefront of this movement, helping shape programs like Colorado’s FAMLI through research, advocacy, and small business voices. Read about our efforts and hear directly from small business owners on why PFML matters.

At Small Business Majority, we know small businesses don’t succeed in a vacuum, they thrive when surrounded by a strong, connected support system. That’s why we’re committed to building small business ecosystems: networks of community organizations, mission-driven lenders, service providers, and policymakers working together to help entrepreneurs start, grow, and scale their businesses.

Rural entrepreneurs face a unique set of challenges compared to their urban and even their suburban counterparts. Poor infrastructure including limited broadband internet, as well as a lack of access to hospitals, doctors, and childcare providers can make it difficult for rural economies to thrive. And while many cities have dedicated programs to support under-resourced small businesses, that often isn’t true in rural areas. That’s why small business advocacy organizations must help fill the resource void in rural America.

Many small business owners struggle to save for retirement or offer benefits due to cost and limited resources. That’s why Small Business Majority has long supported state and federal auto-IRA programs like California’s CalSavers, which provides no-cost retirement savings options for workers and helps small firms compete for talent. One early participant, bookstore owner Christin Evans, shares how CalSavers improved retention and professionalism at her business. With 20 states now offering similar programs, thousands more entrepreneurs and employees can plan for a more secure future—yet continued advocacy remains essential.

One of the biggest barriers to entrepreneurship is capital. It’s often so hard to get, in fact, that many early-stage small business owners resort to borrowing from friends and family, or risking their life savings to support their dreams. In addition to the deceptively high interest rates, one of the most insidious aspects of predatory loans is that business owners who are victimized by bad-faith lenders tend to also feel shame. That’s why we’re grateful for small business owners like Chrishon Lampley, a member of our Illinois Small Business Council, who has regularly shared her predatory lending story over the years to help others avoid the same pitfalls.

When John Arensmeyer launched Small Business Majority in 2005, he was trying to fill a gap in the advocacy space. As a former small business owner himself, he recognized that the overwhelming majority of entrepreneurs didn’t have the resources to receive meaningful attention from their elected officials. He also saw that most of the small business advocacy groups at the time tended to conflate the needs of big businesses with the needs of small firms.