Biz2Credit’s 2023 Top Small Business Industries Report released on Tuesday, December 5, identified Wholesale Trade as the top industry for small business. The study found that wholesalers had both the highest average annual revenue and highest small business loan average funded amount.
In other sectors, Health Care & Social Assistance had the highest funding approval rate, and Information Technology (IT) led in highest credit score. The Manufacturing sector had the longest established businesses, while Transportation & Warehousing was the industry with the youngest businesses.
“Wholesale Trade had a very good year in 2022 as pandemic-related supply chain issues dissipated. The industry posted the highest average revenue and the highest average funded amount,” said Rohit Arora, CEO of Biz2Credit and one of the nation’s leading experts in small business finance, who oversaw the research.
Biz2Credit, a leading online funding provider to small businesses, analyzed the financial performance of over 52,000 applications submitted through the company’s online funding platform from January 1 through December 31, 2022.
Key Findings of the study include:
- Wholesale Trade was the industry with the highest average revenue ($900,076), followed by Manufacturing ($865,000), Information Technology ($791,103), Construction ($720,451), and Accommodation and Food Services ($666,910).
- Healthcare & Social Assistance and Accommodation & Food Services had the highest approval rate for all financing applications at 37%, followed by Manufacturing (32%), Wholesale Trade (31%), and IT (30%).
- Wholesale Trade ($108,352) was the sector with the highest average funding amount, followed by Information Technology ($99,586), Retail Trade ($83,934), Manufacturing ($68,803), Accommodation & Food Services ($64,839), and Administrative & Support and Waste Management & Remediation Services ($64,614).
- IT business owners had the highest average credit score (669), followed by Manufacturing (665), Real Estate/Rental and Leasing (662), Wholesale Trade (658), Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (650), and Finance and Insurance (646). Credit scores generally rose compared to last year's numbers.
- Retail Trade had the highest volume (24.8%) of funding issued to small businesses, followed by Accommodation and Food Services (15.7%), Construction (12.2%), Health Care and Social Assistance (10.6%), and Other Services (7.3%).
- Transportation & Warehousing was the industry with the youngest businesses (3.1 years), followed by Arts, Entertainment, & Recreation (4.2 years), Other Services except Public Administration (4.3 years), Real Estate/Rental and Leasing (4.5 years), Retail Trade (4.5 years), Accommodation and Food Services (4.5 years), and Wholesale Trade (4.8 years).
- Manufacturing (7.4 years) was the most established industry on average, followed by Information Technology and Educational Services (6.1 years), Finance & Insurance (6.0 years), Health Care & Social Assistance (5.9 years), and Professional, Scientific, & Technical Services (5.7 years).
Charts
Top 5 Industries: Average Annual Revenue
| Rank | Industry | 2021 | 2022 | % Change | |||||
| 1 | Information Technology | $655,785 | $791,103 | 21% | |||||
| 2 | Accommodation & Food Services | $440,760 | $664,911 | 51% | |||||
| 3 | Health Care & Social Assistance | $479,251 | $662,268 | 38% | |||||
| 4 | Retail Trade | $493,953 | $651,581 | 32% | |||||
| 5 | Professional, Scientific & Tech Services | $395,457 | $559,867 | 42% |
Top 5 Industries: Approval Rates by Industry
| Rank | Industry | 2021 | 2022 | ||||
| 1 | Accommodation and Food Services | 35% | 37% | ||||
| 2 | Health Care and Social Assistance | 35% | 37% | ||||
| 3 | Information Technology | 36% | 30% | ||||
| 4 | Retail Trade | 30% | 30% | ||||
| 5 | Professional, Scientific & Tech Service | 28% | 29% |
Top Industries: Average Funded Amount
| Rank | Top Industries | 2021 | 2022 | % Change | |||||
| 1 | Information Technology | $72,552 | $99,586 | 37.3% | |||||
| 2 | Professional, Scientific & Tech Service | $33,844 | $48,378 | 42.9% | |||||
| 3 | Retail Trade | $67,008 | $83,934 | 25.3% | |||||
| 4 | Health Care & Social Assistance | $61,708 | $61,250 | -0.7% | |||||
| 5 | Accommodation & Food Services | $51,229 | $64,839 | 26.6% | |||||
| 6 | Services (except Public Admin) | $42,680 | $38,557 | -9.7% |
Top 5 Industries: Credit Score
| Rank | Top Industries | 2021 | 2022 | Score Change | |||||
| 1 | Information Technology | 662 | 669 | 8 | |||||
| 2 | Manufacturing | 657 | 665 | 7 | |||||
| 3 | Real Estate, Rental & Leasing | 662 | 662 | 0 | |||||
| 4 | Wholesale Trade | 642 | 658 | 16 | |||||
| 5 | Professional, Scientific & Tech | 641 | 650 | 9 |
Top 5 Industries: Volume of Funding
| Rank | Industry | 2021 | 2022 | ||||||||
| Funding Volume | % contribution | Funding Volume | % contribution | ||||||||
| 1 | Retail Trade | 43,622,000 | 31.30% | 77,723,000 | 24.80% | ||||||
| 2 | Accommodation and Food Services | 20,235,300 | 14.50% | 49,278,000 | 15.70% | ||||||
| 3 | Construction | 8,216,000 | 5.90% | 37,741,050 | 12.00% | ||||||
| 4 | Health Care and Social Assistance | 16,476,000 | 11.80% | 33,259,000 | 10.60% | ||||||
| 5 | Other Services (except Public Administration) | 14,426,000 | 10.30% | 22,787,400 | 7.30% | ||||||
Top 5 Industries: Age of Business (Most Mature)
| Rank | Industry | Age of Business | |||
| 1 | Manufacturing | 7.4 years | |||
| 2 | Information Technology | 6.1 years | |||
| 3 | Educational Services | 6.1 years | |||
| 4 | Finance and Insurance | 6.0 years | |||
| 5 | Healthcare & Social Assistance | 5.9 years |
Top 5 Industries: Age of Business (Youngest)
| Rank | Industry | Age of Business | |||
| 1 | Transportation and Warehousing | 3.1 years | |||
| 2 | Arts, Entertainment & Recreation | 4.2 years | |||
| 3 | Other Services (except Public Admin) | 4.3 years | |||
| 4 | Real Estate Rental & Leasing | 4.5 years | |||
| 5 | Retail Trade | 4.5 years |
Government Insights
“Upstate New York small businesses are some of the most creative and scrappy in the country. And they have to be. In New York, overburdensome regulations, high taxes, and the labor shortage make it extremely difficult for small businesses to survive,” said Congressman Marc Molinaro (R, NY-19), who serves on the House Small Busin