My favorite academic/entrepreneur, Jeff Cornwall, has posted about a wonderful, 44-page document on the American Entrepreneurial Economy. I’ve posted his highlights below — ordinarily I’d pick a few but they were all just so damned great… I recommend you visit his blog ASAP (here’s the link: Data on the American Entrepreneurial Economy) for more info and to download the report.
-Almost one out of every eight Americans (11.9%) is engaged in entrepreneurial activity. This is one of the highest rates in the world and the highest rate of the largest, most developed economies. Our culture remains the strongest force driving entrepreneurial activity that differentiates us from other nations studied. America outranks the rest of the world in all of the key entrepreneurial indexes.
-One myth that the cynics like to perpetuate is that these are mostly people out of work who cannot find a job. This study found that 76% of new start-ups were created to pursue opportunities their founders saw in the market, while only 24% were folks looking to create some income between jobs, typically as self-employed consultants.
-Another myth is that these businesses do not really create jobs. This study found that 70% of new start-ups already employ at least one person, and 80% plan to hire at least one more employee in the next year, and 20% plan to add at least 19 new employees in the next few years.
-Who are these American entrepreneurs? They tend to be young, as the study found the highest rate of entrepreneurship (17.3%) in 25-34 year olds. African Americans and Hispanics have the highest rates overall, and men are almost twice as likely to be new entrepreneurs as are women.
-Where is the money coming from to finance these ventures? Everywhere! The study estimated that 5% of the adult American population had invested in someone else’s start-up business. In contrast, only 2500 businesses received venture capital funding, and very few of these were start-ups.
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
I would love to know how many women are starting their own businesses. I would think it is high, with numbers of women interested in taking opportunities from home, where they can still be with their children and manage their home.
I personally would be interested in having comments on this from women interested in developing a niche market of some kind!
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I would be very interested to see what the percentages look like for women starting their own businesses from home.
I would think that the amount of women entrepreneurs would be very high as there are many reasons they may want to avoid a 40-hour work week (family, children, etc.) and start something profitable in their spare time.
I would be interested in hearing comments on this.
I would be very interested to see what the percentages look like for women starting their own businesses from home.
I would think that the amount of women entrepreneurs would be very high as there are many reasons they may want to avoid a 40-hour work week (family, children, etc.) and start something profitable in their spare time.
I would be interested in hearing comments on this.
I would love to know how many women are starting their own businesses. I would think it is high, with numbers of women interested in taking opportunities from home, where they can still be with their children and manage their home.
I personally would be interested in having comments on this from women interested in developing a niche market of some kind!——-
One of the other myths is that by removing the tax on dividend income we’ll create jobs. Job creation comes from companies growing, changing. That change eats up cash. Companies growing and changing can’t afford to pay dividends. Likewise, their investors aren’t looking for change and the associated risks. They want security.
You can see the impact on our economy of emphasizing this tax policy and it’s jobless recovery.