Our culture monitoring shows that small business is the new black. Since Small Business Saturday is this weekend, we thought we’d share our findings on what’s making this sector so hot. We see three key reasons. Be sure to click over to the SlideShare for the full story.

We still have a corporate and ethics hangover from the 2000s. September 11, Lance Armstrong’s and Tiger Woods’ falls from grace, the recession and the dissolution of big banks. We started to question what we knew and, in the face of tragedy and hard times, reevaluate what really matters, and how we define and pursue the American Dream.

Happiness is “in.” Partly as an outcome of that rough decade and partly due to generational shifts (Millennials are now the largest living generation), happiness is now a high priority for many Americans. And, most Americans aren’t finding happiness at work.

Technology changed the business landscape. The ease and access provided by the Internet and emerging technology are unparalleled. It is easy to access legal advice on sites like LegalZoom, easy to access funding through services like Square, easy to create a digital storefront via sites like Big Cartel and Squarespace, and easy to access consumers all over the world. This ability to purchase directly from an artisan – via a site like Etsy – rather than from a huge corporation has led many of us to rethink where we choose to spend our money and has led to the development of new business models.