Business Opportunities

An analysis of 120 categories of sole proprietorships provides an overview of the safest and riskiest small businesses as of 2002, based on which categories had the highest number of sole proprietorships with profits. (Sole proprietorships are single-owner businesses in which the liabilities of the company are those of the owner and the income and costs of the business are reported on the owner's personal income tax return.) Four health care-related businesses appear among the top ten safest businesses to start: optometrists have a 93% likelihood of profitability; dentists, 91.8%; mental health practitioners, 87.8%; and physicians, 87.1%. Also among the top ten are two construction-related categories: special trade contractors, with an 88.2% chance of profitability, and residential building construction, with 85.9%. (See Table 9.6.)

Sole proprietorships experiencing less than 50% profitability included health and personal care stores (49.5%); video tape and disc rental stores (48.4%); computer and electronic products manufacturing (35.4%); and scenic and sightseeing transportation (33.8%). (See Table 9.6.)