Business Opportunities
Owner Characteristics
As reported in Homebased Business: The Hidden Economy, small business owners are likely to be male, whether in a home-based business (about 64%) or not based at home (70%); in addition, home-based business owners are slightly more likely than owners of businesses TABLE 9.7 Total number of U.S. sole proprietorships, 2003not based at home to be married, with rates of 76% for home-based business owners and 72.2% for those not based at home. Home-based business owners were typically in their mid-forties at the time of the survey.
| TABLE 9.7 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Total number of U.S. sole proprietorships, 2003 | ||
| Number of sole proprietorships | Receipts (in thousands) | |
| All sole proprietorships | 17,575,643 | 969,347,038 |
| Professional, scientific & technical services | ||
| Legal services | 324,484 | 27,649,186 |
| Office of certified public accountants | 51,079 | 3,063,764 |
| Other accounting services | 339,095 | 6,405,006 |
| Architectural services | 68,163 | 4,639,593 |
| Engineering services | 95,922 | 4,831,303 |
| Drafting, building inspection and geophysical surveying | 41,901 | 1,012,580 |
| Surveying and mapping (except geophysical) services | 15,034 | 647,042 |
| Testing laboratories | 3,080 | 72,843 |
| Specialized design services | 159,875 | 5,025,333 |
| Computer systems design services | 234,926 | 7,143,506 |
| Management, scientific and technical consulting | 589,950 | 24,001,543 |
| Scientific research and development services | 33,161 | 564,199 |
| Advertising and related services | 92,443 | 4,830,733 |
| Market research and public opinion polling | 26,212 | 1,057,364 |
| Other professional and technical services | 368,420 | 15,978,294 |
| Administrative and support services | 1,433,426 | 36,117,451 |
| Waste management and remediation services | 22,442 | 1,164,421 |
| Educational services | 326,443 | 4,155,635 |
| Health care and social assistance | ||
| Physicians (except mental health specialists) | 178,871 | 25,989,675 |
| Physicians (mental health specialists) | 24,409 | 1,978,299 |
| Dentists | 95,536 | 25,366,750 |
| Chiropractors | 28,950 | 3,756,135 |
| Optometrists | 16,006 | 2,603,483 |
| Mental health practitioners and social therapists | 143,813 | 5,715,529 |
| Podiatrists | 7,650 | 650,945 |
| Outpatient care centers and other health practitioners | 99,270 | 2,278,126 |
| Medical and diagnostic laboratories | 18,425 | 1,404,384 |
| Home health care services | 114,427 | 1,645,182 |
| Other services (including ambulance services, blood banks) | 30,651 | 689,575 |
| Hospital services | 6,176 | 03,583 |
| Nursing and residential care facilities | 54,217 | 2,400,695 |
| Social assistance | 95,996 | 1,246,162 |
| Child day care services | 606,038 | 6,931,928 |
| Information | ||
| Publishing industries | 61,348 | 1,927,882 |
| Motion picture and sound recording | 61,930 | 1,972,154 |
| Broadcasting and telecommunications | 36,118 | 1,382,339 |
| Information services and data processing services | 77,150 | 1,705,519 |
| Wholesale trade | ||
| Durable goods, (including machinery, wood, metals, etc.) | 190,524 | 22,381,553 |
| Nondurable goods, (including food, fiber, chemicals, etc.) | 169,511 | 20,658,107 |
| Retail trade | ||
| Motor vehicle and parts dealers | 126,034 | 33,371,057 |
| Furniture and home furnishing stores | 55,594 | 6,384,327 |
| Electronic and appliance stores | 32,785 | 5,257,972 |
| Building materials and garden supplies | 50,939 | 7,795,929 |
| Food and beverage stores | 108,624 | 31,684,545 |
| Health and personal care stores | 118,048 | 7,360,867 |
| Gasoline stations | 33,439 | 23,984,904 |
| Clothing and accessories stores | 103,923 | 11,915,848 |
| Sporting goods, hobby, book, and music stores | 150,948 | 8,777,446 |
| General merchandise stores | 31,094 | 4,580,787 |
| Miscellaneous store retailers | 422,688 | 23,018,888 |
| Nonstore retailers | 1,075,154 | 21,042,740 |
TABLE 9.7 Total number of U.S. sole proprietorships, 2003 (CONTINUED)
| TABLE 9.7 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Total number of U.S. sole proprietorships, 2003 (CONTINUED) | ||
| Number of sole proprietorships | Receipts (in thousands) | |
| Accommodation and food services | ||
| Hotels, motels, and bed and breakfast inns | 32,116 | 3,396,910 |
| Recreational vehicle parks and recreational camps | 15,791 | 688,232 |
| Rooming and boarding houses | 13,391 | 764,503 |
| Food services and drinking places | 253,853 | 31,443,622 |
| Construction | ||
| Land subdivision and land development | 20,349 | 2,938,922 |
| Residential building construction | 357,136 | 37,960,287 |
| Nonresidential building construction | 84,325 | 7,519,397 |
| Heavy construction | 58,229 | 4,690,800 |
| Special trade contractors | 1,763,890 | 101,115,961 |
| Manufacturing | ||
| Food manufacturing | 30,876 | 3,021,165 |
| Textile and textile product mills | 6,095 | 136,218 |
| Apparel | 27,077 | 1,908,086 |
| Leather and allied products | 1,652 | 105,449 |
| Wood products | 40,680 | 2,729,519 |
| Paper products | 4,567 | 180,312 |
| Printing and related support activities | 42,951 | 3,364,033 |
| Petroleum and coal products | 899 | 9,374 |
| Chemical manufacturing | 9,995 | 259,770 |
| Plastics, rubber, clay, refractory, and glass products | 19,979 | 834,849 |
| Nonmetallic mineral products | 7,091 | 567,982 |
| Primary metal industries | 3,669 | 381,799 |
| Fabricated metal products | 42,476 | 4,086,061 |
| Machinery | 21,804 | 3,096,553 |
| Computer and electronic products | 9,258 | 348,151 |
| Electrical equipment, appliance, and components | 9,096 | 984,234 |
| Transportation equipment | 8,925 | 835,385 |
| Furniture and related products | 29,243 | 2,279,529 |
| Medical equipment and supplies | 2,418 | 293,351 |
| Other miscellaneous manufacturing | 40,808 | 1,905,388 |
| Transportation and warehousing | ||
| Air and rail transportation | 14,574 | 503,643 |
| Water transportation | 4,349 | 448,335 |
| General freight trucking, local | 169,027 | 13,456,352 |
| General and specialized freight trucking, long-distance | 250,736 | 21,875,973 |
| Urban transit | 973 | 26,839 |
| Interurban and rural bus transportation | 941 | 6,299 |
| Taxi and limousine service | 107,387 | 3,104,899 |
| School, employee, and charter bus industry | 15,772 | 658,603 |
| Other transit and ground passenger transportation | 17,513 | 317,771 |
| Scenic and sightseeing transportation | 10,255 | 205,850 |
| Vehicle towing and other transportation | 37,446 | 1,575,197 |
| Couriers and messengers | 157,753 | 3,438,180 |
| Warehousing and storage facilities | 3,651 | 371,352 |
| Finance and insurance | ||
| Credit intermediation and related activities | 54,913 | 3,174,011 |
| Investment bankers and securities dealers | 4,672 | 5,566,788 |
| Securities brokers | 27,690 | 10,746,057 |
| Commodity contracts brokers and dealers | 4,965 | 4,455,966 |
| Securities and commodity exchanges | 956 | 1,086,282 |
| Investment advice and other investment activities | 101,645 | 37,823,097 |
| Insurance agencies and brokerages | 326,762 | 20,995,816 |
| Insurance (other activities) | 57,760 | 2,542,605 |
About half of all small business owners have had some family business experience, and about 25% of those who have a college degree majored in business. Home-based business owners were somewhat more likely to have a college degree (21.4%) than business owners not based at home (15.6%). Approximately 10% of business owners have had between ten and nineteen years of prior
TABLE 9.7 Total number of U.S. sole proprietorships, 2003 (CONTINUED)
| TABLE 9.7 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Total number of U.S. sole proprietorships, 2003 (CONTINUED) | ||
| Number of sole proprietorships | Receipts (in thousands) | |
| SOURCE: Patrick O'Rourke, "Total Number of U.S. Sole Proprietorships," in Useful Business Statistics, Bizstats.com, 2003, http://www.bizstats.com/numbersp.htm (accessed January 10, 2006) | ||
| Real estate and rental industries | ||
| Real estate lessors including warehouses and self storage | 16,728 | 1,039,098 |
| Real estate agents, brokers, managers and appraisers | 673,734 | 34,016,819 |
| Other activities related to real estate | 98,254 | 4,362,306 |
| Automotive equipment rental and leasing | 16,736 | 694,034 |
| Consumer electronics and appliances rental | 1,064 | 64,281 |
| Formal wear and costume rental | 941 | 41,380 |
| Video tape and disc rental | 7,476 | 842,856 |
| General rental centers | 11,269 | 381,586 |
| Commercial equipment rental and leasing | 25,232 | 1,430,381 |
| Other services | ||
| Automotive mechanical and electrical repair | 168,775 | 12,405,736 |
| Automotive body shops | 94,540 | 6,897,434 |
| Auto maintenance (including oil change and car washes) | 63,329 | 4,190,180 |
| Miscellaneous repairs (non-automotive) | 365,316 | 12,488,692 |
| Personal and laundry services | 1,104,628 | 27,734,756 |
| Religious, civic and professional organizations | 210,843 | 2,209,867 |
| Performing arts, spectator sports, and related | 876,286 | 14,934,984 |
| Museums, historical sites, and similar institutions | 4,034 | 41,887 |
| Amusement, gambling, and recreation industries | 159,888 | 4,477,467 |
| Agriculture, forestry and fishing | ||
| Animal production (including breeding of cats and dogs) | 35,201 | 786,209 |
| Forestry and logging | 54,337 | 7,296,277 |
| Fishing | 82,380 | 2,668,631 |
| Hunting and trapping | 9,361 | 105,930 |
| Support activities for agriculture and forestry | 125,625 | 5,795,646 |
| Oil and gas extraction | 97,173 | 3,232,669 |
| Coal mining | 9 | 9,011 |
| Metal ore mining | 3,017 | 35,808 |
| Nonmetallic mineral mining and quarrying | 9,312 | 711,567 |
| Support activities for mining | 7,587 | 445,445 |
| Utilities | 9,077 | 108,154 |
| Unclassified establishments | 262,768 | 3,349,077 |
Additional topics
Jobs and Career OpportunitiesCareers and Occupations: Looking to the FutureBusiness Opportunities - Business Starts, Business Size, Business Failures And Terminations, Safest And Riskiest Businesses, Number Of Businesses