Opportunity Alert: Small Businesses, Big Opportunity

Small businesses have traditionally, and necessarily, paid less than big businesses. Consequently, they’ve struggled to attract the top talent they need in order to grow their small businesses into big businesses. But, the tide is turning. The sluggish economy has created a window of opportunity for small businesses. Now that salaries in many sectors and for most positions have either stopped rising or fallen, small business owners and managers are finding they are able to compete with larger businesses for talent.

Small businesses hiring is up–for the consecutive fifteenth month! The SurePayroll Hiring Index, a national index based on employee counts from payroll submissions of 18,000 small businesses, revealed that small business hiring was up nationally and regionally (in the South, West, Midwest and Northeast). The SurePayroll hiring survey revealed that 17% of small businesses owners intend to hire new employees this month.

Many small businesses are continuing to grow because they sell products and services to larger businesses, not direct to consumers. Seventy percent of small business owners are optimistic about the economy and their business prospects. So, with lower payrolls (due to decreased salary growth for all businesses) and better business prospects than some of their larger counterparts, small businesses should begin to creep onto the jobseekers’ job search wish lists.

Most jobseekers who have worked for larger businesses do not even consider small business job opportunities. They worry that working for a small business means accepting less money or no health benefits or both. Because of this, 78% of small business owners who tried to hire found few or no qualified applicants (according to the National Federation of Independent Businesses).

But, smaller businesses recognize the need to be competitive and are offering competitive salaries for many positions. Twenty-three percent of those that did hire offered higher salaries. Here’s a look at small business salaries for a select group of positions.

SMALL BUSINESS C-SUITE EXEC PAY (Companies with 100-250 employees)

JOB	INDUSTRY	MEDIAN PAY
CEO	Health care/Social Assistance	$145,000
CEO	Information	$257,000
CEO	Retail	$186,000
COO	Manufacturing	$224,000
COO	Professional, Scientific & Technical Services	$170,000
COO	Wholesale	$149,000
COO	Professional, Scientific & Technical Services	$170,000

Get more executive compensation info

Compensation information for employees in other positions within smaller companies is spotty at best. But, Careersthatdontsuck.com’s “Salaries” page features links to the best salary information resources on the Web.

But, if you are a jobseeker and not yet convinced of the desirability of small business employment, consider working as a contractor. Like larger businesses, small businesses are increasingly relying on contractors. Nearly 4 of every 100 employees on small business payrolls are contractors.

To learn more about job opportunities with small businesses, you’ll need to do a bit of research. These companies don’t generally make the Fortune 500 lists. The relatively large and successful small businesses do, however, make the Inc. 5000, The Inner City 100, Fast 50 and Black Enterprise 100. You’ll need to do a bit of RBWA (research by walking around) to find the smallest, local businesses.