The good news is, in the U.S. small businesses are only increasing in number. In fact, in 2021, the U.S. had a reported 32.5 million small businesses, making up 44 percent of all U.S. economic activity and a record peak for the country.
To better understand small business trends in the U.S., Semrush, the online visibility management and content marketing SaaS platform, assessed Americans’ interest in starting new ventures using its proprietary search volume intel. Overall, the company found an increased interest in starting a business, growing by 21 percent over the past four years and a significant spike in July 2020, likely due to the impacts of the pandemic.
Looking at what kind of small businesses Americans had an interest in launching, Semrush found that the most popular was opening a boutique, accounting for almost one-fifth of all entrepreneurs. Starting a business on Etsy was a close second at 17 percent. Cleaning services, vending machines and clothing also ranked in the top five categories.
As Americans research starting a small business, Semrush found that a few key trends were emerging particularly related to the financial side of things, which includes grants and loans to other ways to get support in a venture. Notably, many small businesses were overwhelmed during the pandemic as they struggled to keep up with changing consumer priorities and COVID-19 restrictions. Positively, financial businesses like