{"id":2023,"slug":"sba-7-to-8-percent-guideline","title":"US SBA guideline — 7-8% of gross revenue for businesses under $5M","kind":"reference","scope":"business","status":"current","audiences":["kevin","candid-team"],"topics":["marketing-spend-benchmarks"],"reference_body":"**Claim:** US Small Business Administration guideline — **7-8% of gross revenue** for businesses under $5M.\n\nNote distinct from advertising-only benchmarks: SBA's own blog cites a ~1.08% *advertising* average (sourced via Small Business Trends) — narrower measure, not the same thing.\n\n**Source:** US SBA. Industry-consensus, widely cited.\n\n**Confidence:** Industry-consensus.\n\n**Why this matters for Candid:** Non-vendor government source — useful for triangulation with Gartner and CMO Survey. The 7-8% sits between the two and is specifically for the SMB band.","rationale_body":null,"metadata":null,"links":{"outgoing":[],"incoming":[{"slug":"research-brief-smb-widget-spend-benchmarks-june-2026","title":"Research brief: SMB widget spend benchmarks — feasibility of a \"digital-minus-ads\" % of revenue (June 2026)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"}]},"created_at":"2026-06-23T19:16:01.894Z","updated_at":"2026-06-23T19:16:01.894Z"}