What contributions do small businesses make to our economy?

Instructions: Please comment on both discussion posts below in 200 words.
Post #1
Post to the discussion forum your response to the following: What contributions do small
businesses make to our economy? Support your post with evidence from the class text, material
from at least two outside sources. Your response should be a few paragraphs. Post a separate
response to a least two classmates they should be constructive in nature.
Small businesses present new employment opportunities and serve as the building blocks of the
United States’ largest corporations (Brown, n.d.). Without small businesses, large businesses
would not evolve. A corporation does not start out with 1500 employees working throughout the
world. A business starts with an idea from an individual or a group of individuals but, large
companies do not form out of thin air. A company no matter how small or insignificant starts
from somewhere. It begins with a thought and evolves into something more. A thought that
sometimes becomes one of the largest contributions to a society. Wal-mart started out as an idea
from Sam Walton and idea that began with the lowest price anywhere, anytime (Walmart, Inc.,
n.d.).
Small businesses contribute to local economies by bringing innovation and growth into the place
in where it resides. This sort of addition to society is important as it allows individuals to work
where they live which in turn creates buy in from the worker. Buy in from the employee helps to
ensure the employee has the company’s best interest at mind during everyday decisions. It also
helps to create an environment in where the customer comes first which is vital when looking to
grow a business. If the customer is happy, the customer will return which keeps the business in
business.
Brown, J. M. (n.d.). How important are small businesses to local economies? Retrieved June 29,
2017, from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/important-small-businesses-local-economies5251.html
Walmart, Inc. (n.d.). Our history. Retrieved from http://corporate.walmart.com/our-story/ourhistory Post #2
Small business constitutes a major force in the U.S. economy. Because small business hires the
bulk of the workforce and accounts for a major portion of the nations productivity. One can also
argue that small business is a major source of innovation. Big business looks to small business to
buy ideas and technologies and then markets it as their own. Small businesses are considered the
backbone of the economy, particularly as half the people who work in this country own or work for a small business. Oftentimes small business are the sub-contractors that provide a vast
majority of the parts and products larger firms need to operate. Larger firms even use smaller
business to contract out work to give certain areas more attention and focus. The course text
makes mention of the phrase "small is beautiful" in regards to downsizing as well, which
emphasizes quality over quantity.
According to the Office of Advocacy in 2010 "there are more than twenty-seven million small
businesses in this country, and they generate about 50 percent of our gross domestic product."
Small companies do not always remain small. Many large small businesses have developed by
individual business owners or "entrepreneurs" that have grown to develop some of the largest
corporations that run America today such as Sam Walton of Walmart, Steve Jobs of Apple
computers and Bill Gates of Microsoft.
Small companies also allow individuals, including women, minorities and other countries, to
have opportunities that are not available in the corporate world. There has been a large in
increase in the number of businesses owned by women and minorities and other countries much
like the Jack Ma highlighted in the course text, who is the founder of Alibaba from China.
http://open.lib.umn.edu/exploringbusiness/chapter/5-2-the-importance-of-small-business-to-theu-s-economy/
http://smallbusiness.chron.com/important-small-businesses-local-economies-5251.html