New Analysis from UConn: Where in the U.S. Do Small Businesses Live the Longest? Copy Link Small businesses account for almost half the economic activity in the United States, but starting, maintaining, and growing one isn’t easy. The new Small Business Life Expectancy, or SBLE, metric designed by Jeyaraj Vadiveloo and his students looked at small business survival rates in 53 states and territories for 12 durations between 1994 and 2010.