I was told today that there are 28 million companies in the U.S., and that 96% of them have fewer than 10 employees.  Of course it’s not surprising to learn that most companies are not huge (they don’t call it the Fortune 500 for nothing!) but despite having seen similar data before, I was still caught off guard by how dominant the “small” are amongst the small-to-medium business universe.  So, SMB is mostly S.  When the next U.S. Census data on businesses comes out, expect the number of fewer-than-10-employee businesses to be even higher: the Internet has spawned so many micro online businesses, and enabled others via cheap marketing and infrastructure, that I don’t see how the rate of new busineess formation can’t be increasing.

Today the BizSnap Small Business Blog launches, and fittingly Scott Austin over at the Wall Street Journal posted about how the entrepreneurial spirit is still alive and well despite a difficult economy. Citing the Kauffman Foundation’s annual Kauffman Index of Entrepreneurial Activity study (link opens PDF file), he notes that not only has the rate of new business formation (as measured by the percent of the U.S. adult population creating new businesses) not decreased since last fall’s economic meltdown, it actually has gone up. Furthermore, the rate has stayed more or less constant the past twelve years, through good times and bad.

I expect the long-term trend to show greater rates of new company formation over time. While there will always be big companies, and certain types of businesses that only work well at large scale, the American economy is going through a dislocation that will mean more people working at smaller businesses, rather than the monolithic megacorporations of our grandparents’ generation. The lower costs of starting and running a business mean that the American dream of entrepreneurship is within reach of more people than ever.

Which brings us to the point of the BizSnap blog: to help small businesses do things better, faster, and cheaper. The Internet has brought a world of services to the door of small business. Want to draw up the papers for an incorporation or LLC formation, but don’t want to drop $2,000 at the lawyer’s office? Use an online legal services company. Need a logo for your new business? Spend $300 with an online logo design service and have one within a week. Payoll? Set it up in an hour or two and pay less than $60/month to get going. The list goes on and on. I am not suggesting that every small business need can be met with an online service, but the Internet is also playing an increasing role in finding and communicating with traditional service providers and employees as well — so no matter how you get things done for your business, the Internet can help.

The BizSnap Small Business Blog will cover anything potentially helpful or interesting to our entrepreneurial audience. We welcome you to read and comment regularly, and become part of the conversation!