While being 'backbone of the economy,' microbusinesses face unique challenges staying afloat in West Virginia

Microbusinesses, which are a subclassification of small businesses, are those that have 10 or fewer employees.

Of the roughly 35,000 active business entities in West Virginia, about 25,000 are microbusinesses, said West Virginia Chamber of Commerce President Steve Roberts.

“Some [microbusinesses] are tech-oriented. But most are sort of Main Street small businesses that are retail or service providers,” Roberts said.

These “Main Street small businesses” include barber and beauty shops, auto repair garages and contractors, Roberts said.

One difference between West Virginia and many other states is a lack of small agricultural businesses, which is mainly due to the fact that the Mountain State has steep terrain that does not permit much agriculture, Roberts said.

“But we have a lot of services related to mining and so forth,” Roberts said.

While there are many small companies of contractors, accountants, lawyers and other professionals, the majority of small businesses are non-professional roles that offer lower salaries and fewer benefits, Roberts said.

However, nearly half of all job opportunities in West Virginia are for small businesses, Roberts said.

“Small business is the backbone of the economy. The small business community is very dynamic, very creative. It’s really where entrepreneurs and the creative class thrive,” Roberts said.

Creative entrepreneurship was stoked by the Harrison County Chamber of Commerce last year with its inaugural hosting of The Tank entrepreneurship competition in which contestants vied for a prize package worth nearly $50,000.

In addition to a $10,000 check, the prize package included free marketing, and accounting and legal resources to ease the burden of one of the start-ups.

“Starting a small business can be very difficult. Small businesses don’t have the buying power that big businesses have, they don’t have the access to credit, and they often don’t have the resilience to whether economic downturns that some of the bigger businesses have,” Roberts said.

Small and microbusiness owners also often labor in numerous ways for their companies as opposed to hiring people to fill each role. Owner operation is conducted to keep overhead costs down, officials said.

“It’s a juggle and a struggle for many, and why many microbusinesses don’t really survive or don’t get off the ground. I think a key to the survival of the micros is when they can manage all of that together, still grow their business, and when they bring on employees to share that load is when they really take off,” said Harrison County Chamber of Commerce President Kathy Wagner.

“The first year into the second year is a vital time,” Wagner said as a high percentage of small businesses don’t make it past the second or third year.

Not many companies operate for many years without growing past 10 employees because “as a company you always want to grow,” Harrison County Commissioner David Hinkle said.

One Harrison County microbusiness which opened less than six months ago, is now in the final stages of their first move outside the county. But many more expansions are in the works, the owners said.

Winston’s Cafe in downtown Clarksburg opened its doors in last winter, and are now in the final stages of opening a location in Morgantown, before setting their sights on Fairmont and Salem locations as well.

Construction on the High Street, Morgantown, location is 85% complete, said co-owner Chris Lane. The task at hand is now to hire a site manager and staff to run the restaurant.

Once the second location opens, Winston’s Cafe will have five employees plus the owners. Lane said within five years, they may no longer be considered a microbusiness.

But at the current point, co-owner Amanda Winston is very heavily involved in company operations, both executive and day to day.

“She’ll go in and prep early in the morning if either of her helper girls need to be off,” Lane said.

As companies grow, so do their interactions with other businesses.

Larger businesses also rely on smaller businesses for the goods they sale; such is Walmart’s relation to U.S. based agriculture products.

“Small and micro businesses are very important as we look at our economic future. We want to have a climate that encourages the creative class that is open and welcoming to small businesses. We want to recognize that we need it all. The needs of small businesses need to be priorities for decision makers,” Roberts said.