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One week before National Small Business Week<\/a>, a new study examines some surprising things that the millions of small businesses across the U.S. have in common.<\/p>\n A Pew Research Center Survey<\/a> released Monday delved into Census Bureau data points associated with 33 million small businesses across the U.S. The study defined “small business” as a firm with less than 500 workers, with at least one location.<\/p>\n In the report, small businesses overwhelmingly shared one major commonality: they rarely had employees. In fact, 27 million, or about 82%, did not have any workers, and about 3 million businesses with employees only had one to four people on their payroll.<\/p>\n Still, small businesses employed 56.4 million people in 2021 and achieved more than $16.2 trillion in revenue. Larger businesses with more than 100 employees scored bigger pieces of the revenue pie, though they made up less than 1% of the overall picture.<\/p>\n Related: <\/b>How to Go From Side Hustle to 7-Figure Business and Beyond, According to 3 Women Who Did It<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n Also, most small businesses are not mom-and-pop shops<\/a>, according to the survey. One in 10 businesses in the U.S. were equally owned and operated by spouses, and just 27% were family-owned overall.<\/p>\n It’s also not usually franchises. The majority of small businesses (95%) reported that they did not fully or partially operate as a franchise.<\/p>\n A majority of the businesses surveyed, almost three in five, have been running for at least six years, and 15% were operational for over a quarter of a century.<\/p>\n Related: <\/b>They Designed One Simple Product With a ‘Focus on Human Health’ \u2014 and Made $40 Million Last Year<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n Small businesses also share a positive public perception. Most Americans (86%) indicated that small businesses positively impact the country in a separate Pew Research survey<\/a> conducted in January. In contrast, only 53% thought positively about tech companies and colleges.<\/p>\n A Constant Contact survey<\/a> released Monday presents a global picture, showing that over 80% of the 1,300 small businesses surveyed in the U.S., Australia, the U.K., and Canada expressed concern about how the economic climate will affect their business this year.<\/p>\n Pew Research reports that the number of U.S. business applications has trending up<\/a>, with almost 1.8 million applications filed last year.\n <\/div>\n