Over the last four years, Venture Forward met with hundreds of local policymakers, economic developers, researchers, and academics to share what we know about microbusinesses. This data is now freely available to you.
This exclusive download provides the latest numbers and trends of online microbusinesses in both the U.S. and U.K., including how and why they get started, how much they're generating, and how their owners view their business prospects relative to the economy as a whole.
Read the article entitled ""
Venture Forward was able to keynote the Tenwest Festival speaking on "The Macro Impact of Microbusinesses: How Digital Entrepreneurs Are Powering Our Local Economies" on November 7th in Tucson.
Read the article entitled "Tucson Keynote Recap"
GoDaddy & Frontier Economics Reveals a Single Microbusiness Creates Nearly 7 Local Jobs
This exclusive report contains the latest research of online microbusinesses across the U.K. It also includes research from Frontier Economics, as well as, GoDaddy's Venture Forward Team.
Read the article entitled "Annual UK Venture Forward Report"
Look up your county and its microbusiness and economic statistics
Venture Forward is dedicated to gathering and analyzing data around microbusinesses, and leveraging those insights to support local efforts that empower the everyday entrepreneurs who own them. Our research team synthesizes Venture Forward data with U.S. Census and other third party data to reveal how microbusinesses contribute to more prosperous and resilient economies. In turn, we make our data and insights available to anyone who shares our vision for stronger, more inclusive and healthy communities.
GoDaddy Venture Forward partnered with economics consultancy Frontier Economics on a landmark study. The goal was to uncover the economic impact microbusinesses are making in the UK. The findings were significant: Digital microbusinesses are associated with a higher number of jobs available for each resident, higher annual pay for residents, and an increase in general economic activity, as measured by GDP.
This report is the 2023 Q2 update and contains data up to June 2023 for the U.S nation, states, metropolitan areas, and counties. Download the report to view highlights and an in-depth analysis of MAI data over time.
This October report combines results from the Best Performing Cities Index (BPC) and GoDaddy’s Microbusiness Activity Index (MAI) to examine what may be happening in the economies of a selection of cities in the two rankings, essentially looking at the impact microbusinesses are having in the selected economies.
"Our microbusiness density is three times the national average. We feature that statistic from Venture Forward on our website, and make a point of sharing it on the first day of our six-week Empower Baltimore program to help local businesses boost their digital presence. We want people to know that our city is unique – that we’ve got a lot of people with hustle, who are making things happen."
–Michelle Geiss, Co-Founder & Executive Director, Baltimore Impact Hub
In this data-backed report, the authors leverage data from Brookings Institute, US Census, and Venture Forward in-concert to discuss the variety of benefits online microbusinesses bring to their communities, who benefits most and what those benefits are, and how policymakers can encourage the creation of more microbusinesses.
The COVID-19 pandemic delivered a massive shock to America’s workers – one result of this was a burst of microbusiness startups. But because microbusiness patterns of growth vary from state to state and community to community, local economic development officials need to understand these entrepreneurs in order to help them succeed.
They’re the people who build websites, run restaurants, and offer classes online. But their impact has largely gone unnoticed. Our mission is to change that. We use data to show policy makers how microbusinesses make communities more prosperous and resilient.
Many Americans responded to the economic turbulence of recent years by starting microbusinesses. While all of these everyday entrepreneurs need to be scrappy, ambitious and optimistic, one demographic group stands out for these qualities: those under the age of 30.
How skills training and a microloan helped one woman thrive through the pandemic
