Native-owned businesses bring in billions of dollars each year. But how many are there?

Answer: ~433,000 businesses

This includes 55,000 employer businesses and 378,000 non-employer businesses.

Questions:

•  If you were starting a business, what would you need to figure out before opening? Where would you go for help?
• Some shoppers consider who owns a business when deciding where to spend money. What are some reasons someone might do that?
• Most of these businesses have no employees beyond the owner. What are some advantages and disadvantages of running a business on your own compared with hiring employees?

Click here for the ready-to-go slides for this Question of the Day you can use in your classroom.

Behind the numbers (US Census Bureau):

"The U.S. Census Bureau today released new data about the sex, race, ethnicity, veteran status and other characteristics of U.S. business owners. For the first time, the release also includes estimates of employer firms by owner characteristics, industry sector and congressional district.

The data come from two sources: the Annual Business Survey (ABS), which covers employer businesses (those with paid employees), and the Nonemployer Statistics by Demographics (NES-D), which covers nonemployer businesses (those without paid employees). Together, they provide the most complete picture yet of U.S. business owner demographics...

American Indian or Alaska Native-owned firms accounted for 0.9% (55,000) of employer businesses, with $70.8 billion in receipts...[and] accounted for 1.2% (378,000) of nonemployer businesses, with $15.5 billion in receipts."

About the Author

Kathryn Dawson

Kathryn (she/her) is excited to join the NGPF team after 9 years of experience in education as a mentor, tutor, and special education teacher. She is a graduate of Cornell University with a degree in policy analysis and management and has a master's degree in education from Brooklyn College. Kathryn is looking forward to bringing her passion for accessibility and educational justice into curriculum design at NGPF. During her free time, Kathryn loves embarking on cooking projects, walking around her Seattle neighborhood with her dog, or lounging in a hammock with a book.