Learning more about the respondents in the Small Business Energy Report
This survey, brought to you by Constellation in conjunction with Small Business Trends, is focused exclusively on America's 30 million small businesses and their energy attitudes and practices.
The overarching goal is to help small businesses increase profitability and grow their business by making environmental sustainability, energy usage and recycling a competitive advantage.
The survey was conducted online May 20-June 21, 2019, with a total of 264 worldwide respondents. This report will focus on the 226 U.S. respondents only. Future surveys will track certain responses to reflect changes in attitude and broad sentiment.
1. What type of small business do you operate?
The survey respondents mostly come from traditional Main Street businesses that represent a variety of industries. Retail/ecommerce, creative/handcraft and professional services were the top three responses.
2. How many business locations do you have?
While most respondents operate their businesses from a single location, 16% have between two and 3 business locations, while the remaining 16% have more than 4 locations.
3. Do you operate your business from home?
More than two-thirds of respondents operate their business from home. The remainder of respondents have at least one location.
This number is roughly in line with small business firmographics from the SBA. According to the SBA, more than 80% of small businesses in the United States are single-person businesses, meaning that they have no employees.
The SBA calls them nonemployer businesses and such businesses are often operated out of the owner’s home.
Want to know more? See the Small Business Survey Results!
Want to see the respondents answers for how they use energy? Visit our SMB survey results page for a breakdown of business strategies and energy usage.
