As Connecticut entered the summer with still-tepid levels of startup activity, a new federal report gave new insight into the profile of small businesses nationally.
Between January and May, some 11,700 businesses had filed organization papers with the Connecticut secretary of state, up 3.3 percent from the same period in 2010. Meanwhile, more than 4,900 businesses had filed plans to dissolve between January and May, also representing an increase from a year ago at 3.6 percent.
Count Nanci Lewis among business owners still assessing the impact of tax hikes that Connecticut is imposing with the goal of producing budget surpluses going forward, as well as reducing the state”™s debt. Having founded Sweet Rexie”™s in South Norwalk, Lewis moved the candy shop less than two years ago to Fairfield where she says foot traffic is up. Still, the tax hikes come at a time when like all business owners Lewis is looking to reinvigorate sales in the wake of the recession ”“ with home delivery one new option on the menu at Sweet Rexie”™s.
Home sweet home is the mantra for more than half of businesses surveyed by the U.S. Census Bureau ”“ that was the percentage that were home-based as of 2007.
Less than 7 percent of that total produced more than $250,000 in receipts and 57 percent had less than $25,000 in revenue.
The Census Bureau did not break down the data by states.
“Most businesses are started by people who dig into their own pockets for at least some of their startup capital,” Thomas Mesenbourg, deputy director of the Census Bureau, said in a statement. “This is true for both firms with employees and those without them. Furthermore, more than one in five ”¦ businesses used no startup capital at all.”
Women had a higher percentage of home-based businesses at 58 percent of all woman-owned business, to 49 percent for men (13 percent of all businesses were jointly owned and operated by spouses).
And black, Hispanic and other minority groups were less likely to operate a business from their home, at 47 percent compared with 54 percent for white business owners.
The survey also included significant data on the overall profile of businesses, with small business of course dominating the data.
Roughly three in 10 companies polled launched their business with less than $5,000. Just more than 10 percent financed the startup or acquisition of their business with credit cards, about equal to those who relied on a bank loan.
Other factoids from the report included:
Ӣ more than a third of business owners reported working less than 40 hours a week in the business;
Ӣ just more than half of business owners said their company represented their primary source of income;
Ӣ only 51 percent of business owners have a college degree;
Ӣ more than a third of business owners are at least 55 years old;
Ӣ about 28 percent of U.S. companies are family owned, with 7 percent of business owners acquiring them through an inheritance or other gift-based transfer;
Ӣ close to 14 percent of business owners were born in another country;
Ӣ just 8 percent of companiesӪ revenues includes exports;
Ӣ e-commerce sales were reported by less than 7 percent of those polled; and
Ӣ about 2 percent of all companies operated as a franchise business.
