Client Focus

Why does CMAC focus just on SMBs?

Simple: Because SMBs represent 99.7 percent of all employer firms in America, according to the United States Small Business Administration (SBA). The SBA is an independent agency of the federal government established to aid, counsel, assist, and protect the interests of small business concerns; to preserve free competitive enterprise; and to maintain and strengthen the overall economy of the nation. In addition, SMBs:

· Employ about half of all private sector employees in the U.S.

· Pay nearly 45 percent of the country's total private payroll.

· Have generated 60 to 80 percent of net new jobs annually over the last decade.

· Create more than 50 percent of non-farm private gross domestic product (GDP).

· Include 52 percent home-based businesses, and two percent franchises.

· Hire 40 percent of all technology professionals, including scientists and engineers.

· Are responsible for 97.3 percent of all identified exporters.

· Produced 28.9 percent of the known export value in 2006.

· Secure 13 times more patents per employee than large patenting firms.

Furthermore, SMBs have very distinct needs, particularly when it comes to marketing and communications. More specifically, these businesses are in desperate need of sound, strategic marketing guidance to endure the current economic crisis, which is making it much more difficult for them to remain sustainable in both the short and long terms. Even during normal economic periods, it is challenging for SMBs to survive and thrive, especially when one considers:

· In 2007, over 637,000 new businesses were created, while 560,300 others closed.

· Two-thirds of new employer firms survive at least two years, while 44 percent survive at

least four years. Only 31 percent survive at least seven years.

· These findings hold true across all industry sectors, and do not vary widely.

Source: United States Small Business Administration (http://www.sba.gov); 2010.