Small Business Statistics in the South

Southern Business Institute is focused on entrepreneurs from Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, and Arkansas working together.

The Southern Business Institute is focused on creating space for businesses in the South to align interests, empower business owners, and share resources.

Learn some facts about business owners in our unique area of the country.

These facts are from www.upcounsel.com. You can read more at https://www.upcounsel.com/small-business-statistics-for-every-state.

Mississippi

- Small businesses in the state: 262,272 (99.3% of all businesses)
- Small business employment: 437,242 (46.5% of all employees)
- New employer businesses per 100 people: 0.08 (9,212 net new jobs)
- Average startup early job creation: 3.83 (#40 highest of all states)
- Self-employed minorities: 34,152 (#29 highest of all states)
- Startup one-year survival rate: 80.5%
- Rate of new employer business actualization: 8.2%
- Rate of new entrepreneurs: 0.3%
- Opportunity share of new entrepreneurs: 86.4%
- Small business exporters: 1,545

Mississippi in May set up a Back To Business Mississippi Grant Program to help businesses with 50 or fewer workers cope with the economic impact of COVID-19. Grants ranged from $1,500 to $25,000. Lawmakers set aside $240 million for Back to Business, which at of the start of October had paid out $63 million to small businesses. Officials said out of more than 33,000 applications, more than 13,000 had been approved, almost 10,000 were rejected, and the rest were under review.

Louisiana

- Small businesses in the state: 457,636 (99.5% of all businesses)
- Small business employment: 905,147 (53.6% of all employees)
- New employer businesses per 100 people: 0.10 (8,760 net new jobs)
- Average startup early job creation: 5.13 (#19 highest of all states)
- Self-employed minorities: 64,735 (#16 highest of all states)
- Startup one-year survival rate: 80.5%
- Rate of new employer business actualization: 8.3%
- Rate of new entrepreneurs: 0.4%
- Opportunity share of new entrepreneurs: 72.7%
- Small business exporters: 3,213

Louisiana had $275 million allotted in federal funds to aid small businesses in its Main Street Recovery Grant Program, which offered grants of up to $15,000 for expenses related to the pandemic. State lawmakers also worked to set aside at least $25 million of those grants for bars, which have been hard hit by COVID-related lockdown measures.

Alabama

- Small businesses in the state: 401,717 (99.4% of all businesses)
- Small business employment: 802,920 (47.5% of all employees)
- New employer businesses per 100 people: 0.09 (23,841 net new jobs)
- Average startup early job creation: 4.69 (#26 highest of all states)
- Self-employed minorities: 46,916 (#24 highest of all states)
- Startup one-year survival rate: 81.5%
- Rate of new employer business actualization: 9.9%
- Rate of new entrepreneurs: 0.2%
- Opportunity share of new entrepreneurs: 89.7%
- Small business exporters: 3,386

About four out of five small businesses in Alabama say they have had shortages or shipping delays due to the coronavirus, a recent survey showed, and more than half said they would need financial relief to recover from the economic impact of the pandemic. Over the summer, the state announced a "Revive Alabama" grant program to reimburse small businesses for expenses attributable to the outbreak.

Arkansas

- Small businesses in the state: 255,004 (99.3% of all businesses)
- Small business employment: 490,680 (47.6% of all employees)
- New employer businesses per 100 people: 0.10 (10,151 net new jobs)
- Average startup early job creation: 4.32 (#32 highest of all states)
- Self-employed minorities: 25,654 (#32 highest of all states)
- Startup one-year survival rate: 78.0%
- Rate of new employer business actualization: 12.5%
- Rate of new entrepreneurs: 0.3%
- Opportunity share of new entrepreneurs: 86.8%
- Small business exporters: 1,780

Arkansas has been ranked among the top states for starting a small business. Its industries include lumber, tourism, poultry, rice production, natural gas, and oil production. Nearly 1,800 small businesses exported goods from Arkansas in 2018, the most recent figure available, generating almost a fifth of the state's $5.5 billion in exports.