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Issue Date: December 9, 2007
America by the Numbers: Self-employment
Be your own boss
Millions of us are starting businesses from home.
With more people going into business for themselves nowadays, the number of U.S. firms without paid employees rose to 20.4 million in 2005, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. That's 78% of the nation's 26 million businesses. This category of "non-employer businesses," which often are part-time ventures, generated more than $950 billion in revenue in 2005.
"It's the great American dream," says Gene Fairbrother, who is a consultant with the National Association for the Self-Employed. "People have a desire to be in control of their own destinies."
The number of non-employer businesses grew by 25.5% from 2000 to 2006, says Brian Headd, an economist with the Small Business Administration. That's more than triple the rate of businesses with employees, which grew by only 7.6% during that period. Among the fastest-growing types of businesses: Web search portal firms (which drive Internet traffic to online retailers), up 41% from 2004 to 2005; Internet service providers, up 17%; and nail salons, up 18%.
Still, all this doesn't mean people are quitting their day jobs. Those who considered self-employment their primary source of income grew by only 3.6% from 2000 to 2006.
Factors behind the rise of tiny firms include technology advances, greater demand for services, and an aging population with the skills and resources to launch new ventures.
-- Rochelle Sharpe |
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