Why small businesses are better off now than before the recession — in one chart

[Renew Deal]

Chart is at the website

Sales are down. Hiring remains slow. Optimism is lacking.

By most measures, small business are still stuck in a rut, struggling to bounce back from a recession that hit many of them particularly hard.

Or are they?

New research shows that, while small companies may not be growing larger in terms of sales or headcount, they have emerged from the recession with even stronger, healthier financials than they had before the economy imploded.

Take, for instance, their profit margins. On average, small businesses reported a net profit margin of 5.2 percent in 2007, prior to the collapse, according to data compiled by financial services firm Sageworks. Not surprisingly, their margins thinned to less than 4 percent in 2008 and 2009, slightly below the average for companies of all sizes.


Over the past four years, though, the average small company’s profit margin has gained back ground every year. In 2013, it climbed all the way up to 8.5 percent, higher even than the average net profit margin for all companies (8.2 percent).
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/on-small-business/why-small-businesses-are-better-off-now-than-before-the-recession--in-one-chart/2014/04/23/f501aad2-ca54-11e3-93eb-6c0037dde2ad_story.html

[Peacetrain]

1. That is good news for small operators!!!

thanks for posting.. I could not open up the link..but the paragraphs you put in the op are AWESOME news

[Rod Beauvex]

2. No...

It's just the crumbling economy just flushed out the ones where were running a piggy bank, not a business.

Most business owners run piggy banks for buying toys and houses, not an actual business that has to be kept up financially.

[Renew Deal]

3. Link?

[Demeter]

4. That is for those that survived

That were well-enough established, well-enough run, and lucky enough...

in other words: damn few.


And there are no new ones coming in the pike....and no new jobs.

This is hardly good news. It's like what the optimist who fell off the 100 storey building said, as he passed the 50th floor:

"So far, so good!"

[truedelphi]

5. My small publishing house survived.

We made our goal of expanding some 30%.

But food is drastically more expensive.


On edit: One thing that kept us afloat: the recent developments in China, that the government looks the other way regarding meta physical literature meant that many Chinese wanted our metaphysical books. American I knew were too broke to buy a book, but the Chinese could pay!

We also have basically surrendered to Amazon. If we attract book customers to us directly, we have to contend with shipping costs. Congress gave Amazon a break on United States Postal rates, and they have us small businesses pay more.

So we make more money in terms of the book price if the customer comes directly to us - keeping all but the printing costs. But then we have to eat the shipping fees.

I really truly hate Congress. (Democratic majority, Spring 2007, when this happened!)