"American small 企业 vary greatly in size, number of 员工, 融资, 现金流, and understanding the breadth of this spectrum is critical to developing public policy and business strategies that really help America’s small 企业," said Diana Farrell, President and CEO, JP摩根 追逐 研究所. "While many people think of 'gazelles' and Silicon Valley start-ups as the keys to U.S. economic growth, self-financed small 企业 that may never hire an employee or secure external 融资 make significant contributions to our economy and are the engine of the small business sector."

事实上, most small 企业 are not—and will not be—企业 that rely heavily on 融资 or hire 员工, but they nevertheless produce a large share of overall small business revenue and contribute greatly to the economy. Across 12 different industry sectors, the median life expectancy of an American small business is 5.3 years, with real estate firms lasting nine years and restaurants staying in business for 3.7 years before exiting. Across all business types, nonemployer firms are five times more likely to exit the marketplace than they are to hire 员工.

The report leverages JP摩根 追逐’s unique transaction-level data to shed light on daily revenues, 费用, and 融资 cash. This provides a remarkable understanding of how different firm types contribute to the economy and the importance of 现金流 management to small business outcomes.

Analyses of these data also provide new empirical insights on how actual small 企业 manage their 现金流s. 以前, policy makers did not have data on how small 企业 manage their finances that could explain the relationship between small business 融资, 现金流, 和经济增长, or that could be used to craft policies to support the development of different types of small 企业.

The report divides small 企业 into four types based on size, 复杂性, and dynamism to identify the economic contributions of different small business segments.

• Financed Growth: This sector accounts for 3 percent of small firms, such as a new hamburger chain or a tech startup, that intend to grow through substantial use of external 融资. These 企业 have the potential to make sizable contributions to the overall economy, though approximately 20 percent of these firms fail within four years.
• Organic Growth: The largest sector of American small 企业, these firms account for more than half of all firms. These include 企业, such as a consultancy founded by someone with years of industry experience, that intend to grow with limited use of external 融资. These may include a large share of 企业 that transition between employer and nonemployer status. Across sectors, organic growth 企业 are most likely to fail, with 31 percent of firms exiting within four years.
• Stable Small Employer: 公司, such as a local doctor’s office, that employ a small number of people, generally between five and 20, and are not likely to seek external 融资. Twelve percent of these firms exited within the first four years after launch.
• 稳定微: 这些类型 企业, such as a local dry cleaner, typically hire zero or very few 员工. These firms provide economic support to large numbers of households of small business owners, whose 企业 may not grow significantly over time. Of these 企业, 15 percent of firms are likely to exit over a period of four years.

Additional highlights from the findings include:

Finding One: Organic growth firms generate the majority of small business payroll and revenue but are also the most likely to exit the market.

• Organic growth small 企业 play a significant role in revenue generation, but are also the most fragile and take big risks. More than 31 percent of these 企业 that survive for one year will exit the market before the end of their fourth year.

Finding Two: Financed growth firms are more concentrated in some industries and cities, but organic growth firms abound in every industry and city.

• 公司 in locations like San Jose and San Francisco are three times as likely to be financed growth small 企业, but organic growth firms contribute more to overall economic growth and distribute the benefits of that growth more broadly across geographies.

Finding Three: Nonemployer small 企业 are more likely to exit the market than to hire 员工.

• The majority of nonemployer small 企业 remain nonemployers, and the overwhelming majority of employer 企业 remain employers. 每年, a small percentage of nonemployers become employers, but the likelihood of their transition decreases as firms mature.

Finding Four: New small 企业 achieve more stable and regular 现金流 patterns over time or exit the market.

• Small 企业 with volatile 费用 (relative to revenues) are much more likely to exit than those with other 现金流 patterns, suggesting that large and perhaps unexpected 费用 could be especially difficult to manage.

Finding Five: Stable firms survive, growing dynamic firms transition to more predictable 现金流 patterns, and declining dynamic firms exit the market.

• New dynamic small 企业 are particularly prone to certain types of irregular 现金流s. Financed growth firms are especially likely to have sporadic revenues, and organic growth firms are especially likely to have both revenues and 费用 with erratic timing. 这些类型 irregularity become less common for firms that survive and grow.