Entrepreneur or Small Business Owner?

Kelly K. Spors of the Wall Street Journal, reports that Bo Fishback, VP of Entrepreneurship at the Kauffman Foundation makes a distinction between entrepreneurs and small business owners. She writes, "Entrepreneurs are people who generate revolutionary ideas and bring them to the marketplace … (they) often spur the U.S. economy by evolving into high growth firms. Small business owners, by contrast, start a business and once they grow it big enough to support themselves and their families, they have no intentions of growing it much more.

Small Business Facts

Small businesses:

• Represent 99.7% of all U.S. employers.
• Employ about half of all private sector employees.
• Have generated 60% to 80% of net new jobs annually over the last decade.
• Hire 40% of high tech workers (including scientists, engineers and computer workers)
• Are 52% home-based and 2% franchises
• Produce 13 times more patents per employee than large patenting firms do.

Senior Entrepreneurs: Never Too Late

John Howe writes that seniors are the fastest growing segment of entrepreneurs. Recent studies indicate 22% of men and 14% of women over 65 are self-employed. Compared to just 7% for other age groups. He also cites an AARP study that notes, "Self-employment among American workers increases with age, with the most dramatic jump occurring at age 65." Another study, by Barclays Bank entitled “Third Age Entrepreneurs - Profiting From Experience” shows older entrepreneurs are responsible for 50% more business start-ups than 10 years ago, responsible for as many as 60,000 business start-ups per year. According to the report, most senior entrepreneurs – 51% -- run their business to supplement their pension. Just 27% run the business as the only source of household income.