As originally published by GoDaddy’s Venture Forward research initiative
Behind GoDaddy Venture Forward
Venture Forward quantifies the presence and impact of over 20 million online microbusinesses on their local economies, providing a unique view into the attitudes, demographics, and needs of the entrepreneurs who create and operate them.
GoDaddy knows that to truly advocate and empower entrepreneurs, you first have to really understand them. In 2018, we began analyzing millions of microbusinesses, which we defined as an entity with a discrete GoDaddy domain and an active website, and the majority of whom have fewer than 10 employees. We measured their effect on household incomes and unemployment, together with renowned academics at the University of Iowa and University of Arizona, and established they had an outsized impact on these and other economic health indicators.
In 2019, we began surveying the entrepreneurs who own these ventures, nationally and across cities, at least once a year, to better understand their mindsets and circumstances.
In 2020, we built a proprietary Microbusiness Activity Index and established causality with economists at the UCLA Anderson Forecast. We also created a data hub to update and share our data publicly so those advocating for and studying entrepreneurs could access more information, including measurements of microbusiness density by geography, down to the ZIP code. We update this data on a quarterly basis.
In 2021, we expanded our research to the United Kingdom, and this year, in 2024, we added Australia and Canada to our regularly updated data sets including regional and survey insights.
For more details on our research methodology and other findings, please read About Us on the Venture Forward website.
“Microbusinesses are creating jobs. They’re hiring directly as they grow, they’re hiring indirectly, orthey’re bringing that money back into the community.”
— Fox Business May 2024
Microbusinesses have major impact
Microbusinesses demonstrate major growth in numbers2
*Microbusiness Density is defined as the number of microbusinesses per 100 people
Top 20 States By Microbusiness Count Growth
Cities of all sizes are booming2
*Microbusiness Density is defined as the number of microbusinesses per 100 people
City, State
San Francisco, CA
Denver, CO
Oklahoma City, OK
Los Angeles, CA
Pittsburgh, PA
Sacramento, CA
Staten Island, NY
Tampa, FL
Fort Worth, TX
Indianapolis, IN
Spring, TX
San Antonio, TX
Raleigh, NC
Miami, FL
Nashville, TN
Salt Lake City, UT
Aurora, CO
Charlotte, NC
Philadelphia, PA
Fresno, CA
Partner research excerpt
GoDaddy Venture Forward and UCLA Anderson Forecast economists developed another way to capture microbusiness activity since 2019 via the Microbusiness Activity Index (“MAI”), which is comprised of three sub-indices:
Infrastructure Index
Participation Index
Engagement Index
The latest 2024 report is available to download.
TAKEAWAYS
For full report and extended explanation, please go to section 04 – New Research.
Which industries saw the greatest change in online orders received?
Industry Glossary as Self-Reported by Website Owner
Which industries saw the greatest change in online revenue growth?
Industry Glossary as Self-Reported by Website
Download the full report.
GoDaddy Venture Forward 2024 Annual Report | U.S. Edition
This report is powered by the latest data from Venture Forward, GoDaddy’s research initiative to quantify the presence and impact of over 20 million global online microbusinesses on their local economies, while shining a light on the entrepreneurs behind them.
We’re here to support entrepreneurs.
Contact GoDaddy Venture Forward at [email protected]
1Source: GoDaddy Venture Forward and 2023 – Bureau of Labor Statistics2Source: GoDaddy Venture Forward 2019-2024
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