NC State of Business

Did you know that over the last decade, more than 65% of new jobs were created by Small Business. In these difficult times, the Small Business might be our version of the ‘Small engine that can!’

Innovation and business growth programs try to teach Big Business to act like Small Business; to act entrepreneurial with a purpose! Maybe the small business guys really have the edge. I have seen some reports that indicate that a small business is 10X more likely to be successful than the Big ventures. More than likely, you can count on dedication and perseverance as contributing factors.

An area that could be lucrative to small business but isn’t heavily mined is the magnitude of Government Contracts earmarked for Small Business. Government contracts worth over $1 trillion are issued to small businesses every year but roughly 2% of them participate in any type of government contract bidding. Unfortunately there are a number of loopholes in the system that allow for a number of big companies to participate in the small business bidding and contract process.

I see this as an opportunity for our Small Business owners to step up their efforts and pursue these contracts and use the same tenacity that makes them more successful than their big brother counterparts.

I recently was talking to the owner of a small business about a process to help innovate the company’s product line and expand into new markets. He told me that he “ has interest in exploring the government contract and bidding process, but the thought of exploring the vast chasm of unknown is a bit daunting”.

There is a roadmap to help navigate this process and can be found through your State agencies supporting small business development and export.