A business plan for Boston jobs

Posted on April 8, 2016

There is a new business plan for Boston jobs. 

The development of the plan was aided by the Mayor’s Small Business Advisory Council, which was comprised of 34 small business community members representing diverse sectors including industrial, women and minority owned businesses, and startups.

One of the critical outputs of the plan is the “State of Small Business in Boston,” a database detailing the full universe of small businesses, business assistance organizations, and capital providers in Boston.  The State of Small Business in Boston found that:

• There are 40,000 small businesses in the City of Boston.
• Annually, these businesses generate $15 billion in revenue, and create 170,000 jobs.
• Minority-owned businesses comprise 32 percent of the city’s businesses, generating $2.7 billion in revenues, and employing more than 32,000 people.
• 85 percent of Boston’s small businesses are considered to be micro-businesses, employing fewer than 10 employees and generating less than $500,000 in revenue.
• 44 percent of Boston’s employees in private, for profit businesses work in small businesses.
• 37 percent of the revenues generated by the city’s private, non-profit businesses come from small businesses.

The plan identifies the priority needs of Boston’s small businesses, which were identified through extensive outreach to the city’s small businesses through interviews, round tables, surveys, and additional research.  The plan goes on to identify current gaps in Boston’s small business assistance ecosystem, and outlines strategies to meet the needs of small businesses across the city, some of which include:

• Establishing a small business center, a 311 small business hotline and a new small business web portal to improve the navigation of citywide business supports;
• Increasing small business capital availability and innovation by convening capital providers and supporting the development and deployment of alternative capital providers;
• Increasing small business real estate availability, accessibility and affordability by improving the coordination and navigation of the small business real estate market;
• Driving economic inclusion and equity by expanding We BOS, the City’s women entrepreneurs program, and launching new networks and programs to increase support for minority and immigrant businesses owners and entrepreneurs;
• Creating new initiatives to support high-impact small business segments, such as launching an Anchor Council to partner with large institutions and launching a “B2B” (“Boston-to-Boston”) network to increase purchasing from and among local services small businesses, a new mentorship network program for small restaurants and retail, and targeted one-on-one coaching programs for established small businesses with high growth potential.