Who is Starting a Small Business?
A Home Business Article Contributed by Elizabeth Fox-Wise
The Statistics are out, More and More People are Choosing to Start a Small Business
The 2000s are becoming known as a great time for starting a small business. Studies tell us that more and more people are choosing to start a small business every day.
Some economists have gone so far as to say that the preliminary findings indicate that one out of every two homes in America now house a small business of some type.
We know that the reason that so many people are now choosing to start a small business is simply because the opportunity to do so is much more abundant now. The introduction of the personal computer, followed by the World Wide Web, into American households has opened up many more chances for starting a small business.
But who are all of these small business owners? Who, exactly is starting all of these small businesses?
Many People Starting a Small Business are Work at Home Parents
During the 1980s and 1990s the move was towards two income households. Everyone wanted to be out working and no one really wanted to be home. Child care became much more accessible and acceptable and most American homes were empty all day as everyone went their own.
As we came into the 2000s what people wanted from life started to shift again. Many people were discovering that the burden of maintaining two incomes and still getting done the things that had to get done in the home was just too great.
The problem was, like many things, it wasn't possible to go back to a one income family. Since most of us live at or above our means, the family had created a lifestyle that was dependant on two incomes to survive.
Therefore, many parents turned to a home business as a solution. Allowing one spouse to work out of the home and take on more of the domestic responsibility.
Others Starting a Small Business are Displaced Middle Level Managers
Another thing which the 2000s brought to America was a recessions, that almost wasn't a recession, but turned out to be a recession after all!
During this recent recession, the highest percentage of jobs being cut as cost saving measures for business was middle level management positions.
These displaced workers were educated, competent and possessed a lot of good business skills. Unlike laid off factory workers of the past, they did not intend to sit around and wait to be called back to a job that would probably never call them back.
Many of these displaced middle level managers had the skills needed, so they decided to start a small business.
This increased skill level of laid off workers, coupled with the advancements in technology opening the door to so many technical small busineses made a great coupling.
Middle level managers are starting their own small business is great numbers. Many of them are running the small business from their home, giving them the best of both worlds. Allowing them to be more accessible to their families, while at the same time generating the income level to which they had become accustomed.
