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El poder de las pequeñas empresas

¡Las pequeñas empresas son potencias económicas! Según la Administración de Pequeñas Empresas (SBA, por sus siglas en inglés), Estados Unidos tiene más de 33 millones de pequeñas empresas. Comprenden más del 99.9 % de las empresas del país. En 2023, estas pequeñas empresas emplearon a más de 60 millones de personas y pagaron alrededor de dos quintas partes de la nómina del sector privado.

Empoderar a las comunidades

Las pequeñas empresas desempeñan un papel importante en sus comunidades ya que:

• Crean puestos de trabajo: La SBA informa que las pequeñas empresas crearon 17.3 millones de nuevos puestos de trabajo entre 1995 y 2021. Eso es más de la mitad (62.7 %) de los empleos creados en ese período de tiempo.
• Contribuyen a la economía: Al contratar miembros de la comunidad, las pequeñas empresas ayudan a sus vecinos a prosperar. Al mantener los ingresos fiscales locales, también ayudan a apoyar la infraestructura de la comunidad local. (Si necesita ayuda para expandir su grupo de talentos locales, visite la Herramienta 6: Contratación, en el Caja de herramientas para dar la bienvenida a empleados).
• Venden bienes y servicios cruciales: En las comunidades rurales, las pequeñas empresas pueden ser lo único disponible en la ciudad para que los residentes compren lo que necesitan.
• Proporcionan apoyo caritativo: Es mucho más probable que las pequeñas empresas donen parte de sus ganancias a causas comunitarias. Estos números de SCORE destacan la importante función que desempeñan las pequeñas empresas:
  • 66% dona a organizaciones benéficas locales
  • 48% apoya a las organizaciones juveniles
  • 42% dona a los socorristas locales
  • 39% apoya a organizaciones religiosas locales
  • 37% ayuda a grupos de servicio locales como clubes Rotarios o tropas de exploradores
  • 32% dona alimentos o realiza trabajo voluntario en comedores de beneficencia locales

Serving the community

Communities are made up of many different people, and small businesses serve them all. One group, however, sometimes has difficulty accessing goods and services from small businesses; this group includes people in the disability community and older people. Typical issues include stairs at an entrance and a lack of awareness of how to support someone who communicates differently. In fact, people with disabilities are dissatisfied with 75–80% of their customer experiences, according to the 2020 Return on Disability annual report on the economics of disability.

Why serve customers with disabilities?

People with disabilities represent the third largest market segment in the United States—over 50 million people. Together with their family and friends, they have billions of dollars in purchasing power (PDF). What small business owner wouldn’t want to take advantage of this very large market?

The disability community

The disability community is diverse and includes people of all ages, abilities, genders, and races. When people think of disability, they often think only of people who have some visible difference in how they face the world, but the reality is that many people—including your customers—have disabilities that you can’t see. Disabilities that aren’t visible include multiple sclerosis, post-traumatic stress disorder, cancer, diabetes, seizure disorder, depression, recovery from addiction, and many others. Some of these may impact how your customers access your goods and services or engage with your business.

Customer loyalty

When the world is difficult to navigate, you tend to stick to what works. Households with a member who has a disability tend to be more loyal to the brands they like than other households. To learn more, check out this infographic about Buying Habits of People with Disabilities (PDF).

An obligation to provide access for all

Small businesses are often public accommodations and have obligations for accessibility under the ADA. Generally speaking, a public accommodation is a business or nonprofit organization open to the public where commerce takes place. Commerce happens when things are bought or sold, or when services are bought or sold. For more information, see Tool 3.

The bottom line

Disability is more common than you might think! About 20% of the population has a disability. As a provider of goods and services to your community, it shouldn’t matter whether a customer has a disability—what matters is that you are thinking about how to best serve all your customers.