Small Business, Big Impact: National Small Business Week

This post was written by Georgette Green, Business Reference and Research Specialist in the Science & Business Reading Room.

“Don’t sit down and wait for opportunities to come, but you have to get up and make them!”

– Madam C.J. Walker at the 1914 Nation Negro Business League convention, Muskogee, Oklahoma*

Most small businesses begin as startups, often formed in homes, in cars, on social media platforms, through vending, as pop-up shops, or in storefront locations. A small business is typically independently owned, has fewer than 500 employees, and generates limited revenue, whereas larger companies have thousands of employees, higher revenues, and multiple locations. Despite their small size, small businesses make a big impact on the economy, they provide products and services, create jobs, drive innovation, and help strengthen communities.

For over 60 years, the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) has celebrated the growth of small businesses and entrepreneurs. President Lyndon B. Johnson first proclaimed the week of May 23, 1965 as National Small Business Week, designated to recognize small businesses and their role in innovation, job creation, and economic growth. Since then, the Small Business Administration has continued with annual week-long celebrations. This year, the celebrations are scheduled to take place from May 4 to May 10. Events will include an awards ceremony, virtual summits, and educational sessions.

The White House small business week by the president of the United States of America. A Proclamation, whereas small business has through our history contributed to our cherished system of free, competitive enterprise; and whereas the Nation's 4.7 million small businesses: include nine of every ten businesses that supply the needs and wants of the American people; provide more than a third of the Nation's goods and services' contribute significantly to the well-being of our citizens, to the defense of freedom, and to the exploration of new scientific frontiers; and whereas small business concerns, by continuing to grow in number and strength, will provide additional jobs needed by a growing Nation; and whereas small business holds open the door of opportunity for men and women of all races and creeds; and whereas small business is a source of new ideas, new methods, and new products which enrich the lives of our citizens and stimulate our economic growth; and whereas small businessmen are leaders in the business and civic affairs of their communities and will continue to play a leading role in community-wide action to eliminate poverty wherever it exists; now therefore, I, Lyndon B. Johnson, President of the United States of America, do hereby designate the week beginning May 23, 1965, as Small Business Week; and I call upon chambers of commerce, boards of trade and other public and private organizations to participate in ceremonies recognizing the contribution of small business to our goal of a better and more productive life for all our people. In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and cause the Seal of the United States of America to be affixed. Done at the City of Washington this twenty-fourth day of March in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred and sixty-five, and of the Independence of the United States of America the one hundred and eighty-ninth. Lyndon B. Johnson. Signature and seal. — Image taken from *National Small Business Week, 1965* by Joe L. Evins (Washington: U. S. Government Print. Office, 1965). https://lccn.loc.gov/65061585

Small businesses encompass a variety of industries. You can browse our online catalog to find books on running a small business, using subject headings like small business management, small business finance, small business marketing, and entrepreneurship. We also have a digital resource called “This Month in Business History,” which highlights stories about the people, places, and events that made their mark on business history. Entries feature, for example, Woolworth’s, Madam C.J. Walker Manufacturing Company and Elizabeth Arden, all of whom started out as small business owners. Check out more stories in this collection to explore other historical moments related to small businesses.

Research Guides

The research guides listed below can help you explore further on the small business industry and how to run a small business:

Small Business Hub: A Research Guide for Entrepreneurs: This guide provides strategies for researching the steps of starting, growing, and closing a small business.
Entrepreneur’s Reference Guide to Small Business Information: This guide provides resources on how to become an independent business owner.
Doing Consumer Research: A Resource Guide: This guide provides resources for finding data on consumer behaviors or preferences to establish a target market segment for products or services.
Marketing Industry: A Resource Guide: This guide provides resources to publications, associations, agencies, regulations, and data sources in the marketing industry.

You can also visit our full list of business research guides.

*Quote from the Annual Report of the 15th Annual Convention of the National Negro Business League, Muskogee, Oklahoma, August 19-21, 1914 as cited in A’Lelia Bundles, “On Her Own Ground: The Life and Times of Madam C.J. Walker,” (New York: Scribner, 2001), 153.

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