INDUSTRY STATS
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Small Business Manager positions are at a 14% growth rate, which is faster than average. With that said, there are currently 907,600 jobs in the market right now. The total number of jobs is expected to increase by 124,400 to 1,032,000 in the period of 2020-30.
What’s more, the median annual wage for the Small Business Manager jobs was $87,660 in May 2020. The lowest 10% earned less than $50,990, and the highest 10% more than $156,840.
Our conclusion? The Small Business Manager job market is wide open for candidates.
Top Small Business Manager sections that make the best resume
- Header
- Professional summary
- Experience (with numbers and results)
- Relevant skills
- Education
- Certifications
How to write a Small Business Manager resume experience section
Small Business Manager Resume’s Job Experience Checklist:
- Use 4-6 bullet points per job title;
- Don’t go further than a decade behind when describing your job history, unless you’re applying for an executive position;
- Combine job responsibilities as well as achievements with numbers in results when you describe your past work;
- Start each sentence with a power verb and avoid overused buzzwords;
- Use either C-A-R or S-T-A-R methodology, when describing your experience.
The work experience samples below come from real Small Business Manager resumes that got people hired at top companies. You can use them as an inspiration to build your own resume:
- #1 Relationship Manager in New England (2016).
- Interim Market Manager for Q4'16, Q1'17.
- Responsible for new business development of Boston market.
- Worked with internal partners to increase market share, improve customer experience, and deepen existing relationships.
- Leveraged existing partnerships to increase inside sales opportunities.
- #1 Relationship Manager in New England (2016).
- Interim Market Manager for Q4'16, Q1'17.
- Responsible for new business development of Boston market.
- Worked with internal partners to increase market share, improve customer experience, and deepen existing relationships.
- Leveraged existing partnerships to increase inside sales opportunities.
- #1 Relationship Manager in New England (2016).
- Interim Market Manager for Q4'16, Q1'17.
- Responsible for new business development of Boston market.
- Worked with internal partners to increase market share, improve customer experience, and deepen existing relationships.
- Leveraged existing partnerships to increase inside sales opportunities.
- Developed alongside full time employment, achieving over 700 sales in one year.
- Acquired photography and copy-writing skills to market different products on Facebook and Instagram.
- Connect with and support other small businesses in multiple collaborations.
- Designed and facilitated an online reusable beeswax wrap workshop. Created written instructions and provided materials to all participants.
- Worked with customer to create special order of 20 personalised gift sets, hand-wrote gift tags in a modern calligraphy style.
- Developed alongside full time employment, achieving over 700 sales in one year.
- Acquired photography and copy-writing skills to market different products on Facebook and Instagram.
- Connect with and support other small businesses in multiple collaborations.
- Designed and facilitated an online reusable beeswax wrap workshop. Created written instructions and provided materials to all participants.
- Worked with customer to create special order of 20 personalised gift sets, hand-wrote gift tags in a modern calligraphy style.
- Developed alongside full time employment, achieving over 700 sales in one year.
- Acquired photography and copy-writing skills to market products on Etsy.
- Respond to all customer enquiries in a timely way and dispatch orders within stated time frame.
- Worked with customer to create special order of 20 personalised gift sets, hand-wrote gift tags in a modern calligraphy style.
- Designed and facilitated an online reusable beeswax wrap workshop. Created written instructions and provided materials to all participants.
- Connect with and support other small businesses in multiple collaborations. Previous projects: designing and sewing 100 storage gift bags for a baking business; commissioning a textile artist to create fabric for a new product; sewing hand painted fabric into eco-conscious reusable facial cloths for wholesale.
- I provide leadership and my influence is over a $37 million segment with thirteen directs and 690 total employees that serve businesses with annual revenues of $2 million - $20 million, including manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers, distributors, exporters/importers, and service companies across specific industry segments of general industries, healthcare, and environmental, social, governance (ESG).
- As a chief turnaround leader, in a brief time, I have influenced and jumpstarted Treasury and Merchant sales contribution margin for a new line of business within Consumer and Small Business Banking by focusing on developing people, their skills and removing bottlenecks in the new client onboarding journey.
- Small businesses nationally need us now more than ever. I teach, coach, and provide commercial insights to sales leaders on how to reimagine the role of a business development officer, rebranding the business development officer as business partners and advisors, versus accepting perceptions of being a bank product person, order-taker, or vendor. This approach has helped increase sales force effectiveness with a 48% YOY increase in Treasury & Merchant deals sourced, a 50% increase in deals submitted, and 65% increase in Treasury & Merchant deals closed.
- Led and coordinated site enhancements, internal tool updates, customer experience updates, and UAT testing (both WIP and customer facing) for Dell.com's North America Small Business segment.
- Increased Revenue YoY: $312 Million via Feature Impact for 2021.
- Reached Revenue Goal of $1 Billion for 2021 (NA SB Divison).
- Launched over 500+ site enhancements, IT updates, internal tool updates and customer experience redesigns.
- Developed quarterly forecasting and funding requests for 2021 and 2022.
- Created and maintained site enhancements and IT updates repository with up-to-date engagement and financial metrics.
- Regularly met and surpassed Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)
- Created and negotiated telecommunication services contracts for small/medium business owners.
- Act as an ambassador by professionally representing the Bell brand
- analyzed clien's requirements and provided the best possible solutions.
- Team Lead (role ended September 2020)
- Team Mentor (February 2020 to Present): Training our newest team member through live calls, call reviews, and deal reviews
- 117% Quota Attainment (FY2020)
- Team Lead (September 2019 to September 2020): Attended monthly trainings as part of the Team Lead Program. Day in and day out worked closely with our team to progress skill development and close more deals. Achieved this by leading live calls, deal reviews, call reviews, and prospecting training
- Team Mentor (April 2019 to September 2019): Trained our newest team member through live calls, call reviews, and deal reviews
- Coach for ISC Rapid Response Team: Lead weekly call reviews with the ISC team to help them more effectively qualify prospects.
- Lead a Small Business Division deal workshop: Powerpoint presentation walking through the full sales cycle of an Enterprise deal from start to finish
- Coaching sessions to sell more Premium Services: Created a playbook to sell more Premium Services and worked with teams in the Small Business division and the HubSpot for Startups team on how to execute this
- HEART Award Recipient
- Adapted business operations for changing demands based on knowledge of industry and market trends.
- Oversaw company finances with well- organized accounting system and strong financial controls for meeting budget targets.
- Maintained high customer satisfaction ratings by going above-and-beyond with customer service.
- Delivered products of consistent quality to customers by working directly with vendors on delivery and production costs.
- Performance Management: Manage and exceed expectations for all performance KPIs, financial budgets, sales reporting
- Staffing and Employee Relations: Develop, train and coach Managers and Specialist to produce high performance results.
- Market and Industry Knowledge:
PRO TIP
Make sure to relate your experience to your job description, but never lie. That’s not tolerated and will show up in the face-to-face interview later on.
Action Verbs for your Small Business Manager Resume
Recommended reads:
Small Business Manager Resume Skills’ Tips & Tricks to Impress Recruiters
Resume Skills Section Checklist:
- Ensure your hard skills section (including technologies) are exactly matching the job description.
- Don’t simply list your soft skills. Apply the “show, don’t tell” principle - let your job achievements speak for themselves.
- Find a way to showcase your skills beyond the skills section.
- Your resume’s skill section is important to ATS systems - so don’t skip it.
Top Skills for your Small Business Manager resume
- SQL
- Microsoft office
- Tableau
- Salesforce
- Jira
- Google Analytics
- Project Management
- Time Management
- Interpersonal Communication
- Decisiveness
- Delegation
- Patience
- Creativity
- Self-motivation
PRO TIP
When describing your experience, don’t go too far from its terminology. Recruiters use ATS systems to filter resumes based on them having certain keywords, so make sure you use at least a few keywords mentioned in the job description.
Recommended reads:
Small Business Manager Resume Header: Tips, Red Flags, and Best Practices
CHECKLIST For Your Small Business Manager Resume Header
- Your name and surname in a legible and larger resume font
- The job title you’re applying for or your current job title as a subheading to your name
- Link to your portfolio or online profile, such as LinkedIn
- Address (City and State for the US; just your city for rest of the world)
- Email address
- Headshot (required or welcomed in the EU; not required and sometimes frowned upon in the US)
Stick to popular email providers such as Gmail or Outlook. And use these professional formats to create your username:
- first.last@gmail.com
- last.first@gmail.com
- firstlast@gmail.com
- f.last@gmail.com
- first.l@gmail.com
Recommended reads:
PRO TIP
Some companies, states, and countries have policies about identifying information like photos on your Small Business Manager resume. Be sure to check all the relevant rules before submitting yours. If you’re in doubt, you can always try contacting the company’s HR department to ask for their policy.
Small Business Manager Resume Summary Best Practices
Checklist: What to include in your Small Business Manager resume summary:
- Years of experience;
- Highlight top 3 skills and proficiencies;
- One big professional accomplishment you’re most proud of, that you can tie with the aforementioned skills;
- Use short, direct sentences - but no more than three - to keep the HRs interested.
Resume Summary Formula:
PRO TIP
Highlight specific past projects that you’re most proud of in your summary. It sets an excellent tone for the rest of your resume. You can talk about all of your former jobs in your work experience section later on.
Recommended reads:
Listing Your Education, Certifications and Courses
Resume Education Section Checklist:
- Ensure your hard skills section (including technologies) are exactly matching the job description.
- Don’t simply list your soft skills. Apply the “show, don’t tell” principle - let your job achievements speak for themselves.
- Find a way to showcase your skills beyond the skills section.
- Your resume’s skill section is important to ATS systems - so don’t skip it.
Top Certifications for your Small Business Manager resume
Recommended reads:
PRO TIP
There are dozens of certifications that you can claim as a Small Business Manager. But, some are more effective than others. That’s why you mustn’t include every certificate other applicants might have. Try instead to earn and list a few of the difficult ones.
Small Business Manager Resume: Additional Writing & Formatting Tips
There are three basic resume formats you can choose from:
- Reverse-chronological resume format;
- Functional resume format;
- Hybrid (or Combination) resume format;
The most optimal format for your particular case will depend on your years of experience, as well as whether you’re switching industries or not.
Reverse chronological resumes are best suited for experienced individuals who are sticking to their industry. The experience section takes a central place, and its bullets contain your responsibilities and achievements, coupled with numbers and results.
Functional resumes are used by less experienced jobseekers or career changers. Note that it’s not a format that recruiters prefer, as most are used to the classic chronological alignment. Instead of a list of job titles, functional resumes focus on your skills, and through what experiences you gained them.
Hybrid resumes are great for both experienced and entry-level candidates, as well as career changers. They combine the best of both worlds - most often in a double column format, where one side of the content is focused on your experience, whereas the other - on your skills, strengths, and proudest moments.
Small Business Manager Resume Summary best practices
Here are more resume tips regarding your layout and style:
- Clear and legible 12p resume font size;
- Use 10’’ resume margins - that’s default for a great resume design;
- Use a one-page template resume length if you’ve got less than 10 years of experience; otherwise, opt for a two-page resume;
- Save your resume as PDF before sending it to the recruiter.
To take it a step further, check out how your resume can stand out without leaning too much on the creative side.
Recommended reads:
PRO TIP
Test your draft Small Business Manager resume by sending it out to peers and mentors in your circles. Ask them to review it as if they are hiring you for a project and implement the feedback afterwards.
Other sections to include in your resume
Depending on the type of company (corporation or start-up; innovative or traditional), job seniority level and your location, you may want to include more sections to your Small Business Manager resume:
Small Business Manager Resume: How to Make Yours More Creative & Stand Out
When you send your resume to a potential employer, chances are it's the fiftieth one they've seen that day. That's why you need to make your Small Business Manager resume stand out for the right reasons. That means showing your personality, not just your professional experience. Employers are far more likely to remember a candidate who seems like a genuine person and not a robot. Do this by including your passions (which is also a great place to demonstrate skills on a resume), share your favorite books, or even what your usual day looks like.
What Makes a Great Small Business Manager Resume: Key Takeaways
- Choose a resume layout that sends the right message across and fits your current career situation;
- Create a resume header that shows your desired job title, and easy to find contact numbers;
- Be specific about your experience, accomplishments and future goals in your summary;
- Feature detailed metrics and specific examples that show the impact you made in your previous roles when describing your experience;
- List soft skills backed by examples;
- Add all of your technical skills and certifications that you have and match the job description;
- Show off a dash of personality in your resume that will demonstrate your culture fit and the right mix of hard and soft skills.
