If I had to name the two emotions I’ve felt most often building Gusto, it would be: deep gratitude and impatience.
Gratitude for every small business owner who has trusted us to be their partner on critical tasks like payroll, health insurance, 401k, and more. Gratitude for their teams who partner with Gusto on taking care of their families and their futures. Gratitude for Gusties who have chosen to dedicate part of their life to our mission of helping small businesses.
And impatience, because the problems we set out to solve are still very much unsolved. It’s still much too hard to be a small biz owner. Only ~50% of new employers make it to year five. Some companies will shut down because their product or service doesn't resonate with their prospective customers. But many shut down because running a business is still harder than it should be.
Today, we're sharing that Gusto serves more than 500,000 small businesses, roughly one in twelve employers in the United States.
Half a million stories of entrepreneurship
Every one of these 500,000 businesses has a story of entrepreneurship, where one or more people made one of the biggest decisions of their life. They took a leap. They decided to create something. They turned nothing into something. And not just for themselves, but to support their family, and to create something they’re proud of. Every small business is a labor of love. And hardship. And joy.
A caterer that opened a small grocery store to bring the community together.
A dermatologist who started a podcast to bring skincare education to more people.
A collegiate swimmer turned operator for a USA Olympic team.
A budding entrepreneur that saw an opportunity and built a sustainable flower company online.
These are the stories behind this milestone and they're who we want to celebrate.
Since our founding, Gusto has focused on small businesses - keeping them compliant, helping their people get paid, setting up their families with healthcare, and much more. We aspire to be a partner that helps them build their business, every step of the way.
Small businesses deserve the best technology - technology that doesn’t just keep the lights on, but proactively guides, anticipates needs, and does work on their behalf. For too long, that kind of support was reserved for large enterprises with deep pockets and entire teams of experts. Small business owners were left to navigate compliance and the countless tasks of building and running a company, all on their own. They wore twenty hats and did it because that’s what they needed to do.
Gusto is here to change that. We take on the hardest parts of running a business, so owners can focus on what matters most: their customers and their people.
With over half a million customers, we’ve made progress. But we are still in the early days of what’s possible, both on what we can do for our customers, and also how many more customers we can serve.
We strive every day to improve the Gusto product. Today, I’m excited to spotlight Gusto Showcase, which summarizes nearly 75 product updates we’ve made to help our small business customers. Read the Showcase blog post.
The future is small — and that's big
We believe small businesses are not a niche. They're the heart and future of the economy.
Today, small businesses employ roughly one-third of the U.S. workforce. We think that share will grow dramatically as technology makes it possible for more people to start and run businesses. The same capabilities that once required significant capital and entire teams are becoming available to anyone with a good idea and the drive to execute.
We're already seeing it happen. In a recent survey of businesses using Gusto, nearly one in three told us AI has lowered the barrier to starting a business. Nearly two-thirds believe AI will help them compete with companies many times their size.
That's not a trend. That's a structural shift. And we are here to make sure small businesses benefit from what AI enables, so they don’t get left behind.
We’ve always aspired for Gusto to be a partner for a small biz owner. And with AI, we can deliver on that promise, better than ever before. Gusto can be a teammate for small business owners. One that's there at 11 pm when you realize payroll hasn't run. One that notices an employee hasn't submitted their hours and gets the information for you. One that helps you work through whether you can afford to offer health benefits and then sets it all up for you while you're sleeping.
Small businesses have always had great instincts and incredible drive. What they've lacked is access to the tools, guidance, and expertise that larger companies benefit from. Not anymore.
We’re excited to be building a future where small businesses don't just participate in the economy, they drive it.
This is an amazing time to build, and we are grateful to partner with over 500,00 builders today.
Thank you for choosing Gusto! We are thrilled to serve you.
With Gusto,
Josh
