Did you ever consider the contributions of your small business to the economy? Small Business Trends talks about the increasing number of single person businesses based on the latest statistics by US Census.
For proper perspective, US Census defines Nonemployer statistics as “one that has no paid employees, has annual business receipts of $1,000 or more ($1 or more in the construction industries), and is subject to federal income taxes.”
For the past three years the number of single-person businesses has grown each year between 4% and 5%. That means the single-person businesses grow faster than the rate of growth of the U.S. population as a whole (which grows at about 1% a year according to the U.S. Census).
As of 2005, there are 20.3 million single person businesses generating $951 billion annual sales or about 78% of all US businesses! As Chinese philosopher Lao Tzu adequately put, “Great acts are made up of small deeds.” In terms of revenues, real estate, construction, and technical services are industry leaders.
While this is a positive news on the macro level, it also signals intensive competition in the years to come and more business failures. In one study about success rates of small businesses (PDF, 14 pgs), it is estimated that “businesses with fewer than 20 employees have only a 37% chance of surviving four years (in business) and only a 9% chance of surviving 10 years.”
So, gear up to outsmart and outpace your competitors with innovative marketing programs and strong customer service.
Nevertheless, be proud to be one of the entrepreneurs driving the economy!
July 17th, 2007 at 8:19 am
I think it really depends on the business and the market. Up here in Canada, I’ve heard that a new business should have a five-year plan which includes at least five employees in that time. Albeit, that was in the late 80s-early 90s. My mother, on the other hand, has one of the last combo convenience store/ diners, including L-shaped counter. Her store is about 52 years old, and she’s owned it since 1978 - nearly 30 years. It’s not easy, but she’s gotten by with a small handful of employees, despite giant chains like Wal-Mart putting her suppliers out of business, forcing her to now travel 40 kilometres to get her stock instead of 3 km. (She despises Wal-Mart.)