Most of us know small businesses are the lifeblood of this country’s economy. If we don’t know it for sure, we suspect it.

Sure, we have our big corporations. But in many ways we are a nation of shopkeepers. And hair dressers. And body shop operators. And law practice folks. And dentists. And small builders. And caterers.

You get the message. And yet, somebody else does not. Somebody pretty important.

Most of our new jobs would never come into existence without small businesses. The Small Business Administration reckons they create 97 percent of new jobs. Others calculate they create 75 percent of new jobs. Whatever. Without the jobs they create we would be in trouble.

And yet...

Lots of these small businesses employ only the owner. At least for now. For many years women and Hispanics – especially Hispanics – have started new businesses at a faster clip than anybody else.

In addition to the new jobs, our small businesses employ over 50 percent of all people who work in the private sector. (More. We know lots of small operators never appear on the radar screen.)

You might wonder why they don’t employ a higher percentage. Since they create most of the new jobs. It is because the really successful ones get gobbled up by bigger businesses. Or they become bigger businesses. And, of course, lots of them fail.