General Business and Finance Blog

Curt Miller asked:

Think you know everything there is to know about the home business world? You might be surprised. The myths of home businesses versus the home business facts can be quite the opposite of each other. If you are interested in learning a few fun and fascinating home business facts, we have got some that may surprise you.

The Average Home Business Owner

If I were to ask you for a description of the average home business owner, what would you say? Most people think the average home business owner is twenty-five to thirty years old with little to no college education and making anywhere from thirty thousand a year to thirty million a year. Now let’s take a look at what the average home business owner really is.

According to studies, the average home business owner is definitely not twenty-five to thirty years old. In fact, the average home business owner is actually 43 years old. Quite a difference between the myth age and the real age, isn’t it? As far as the average home business owner having little education, the same studies show that home business owners are actually highly educated on average with many having post-graduate degrees. As far as income goes, the spectrum is quite varied. However, the average home business makes approximately $60,000 per year.

Oh, and if you have preconceived notions as to whether there are more male home business owners as opposed to female home business owners, you may be surprised to find out that the equation is actually close to fifty/fifty.

Women, Kids and Home Businesses

Many people think a woman starts a home business so she can stay at home with her children and others think there is no way a woman would start a home business if she had kids at home. Screaming kids and business-focused concentration do not exactly go hand in hand. So who is right? Actually, they are both right and they are both wrong. Studies have indicated that the percentage of mothers working from the home and mothers working outside of the home is pretty much equal.

The Average Home Business

When most people think of the average home business, they think of a small business generating enough income to support a small family and many believe that while small businesses are very common, home businesses are the exception and not the rule.

If you believe there are just a few-hundred-thousand home businesses flourishing in the United States, you had better think twice. More than fifty percent of the small businesses in the United States are home-based businesses and there are actually about twenty-five million home-based businesses contributing to the United States economy.

Another common myth is that a home business can generate an instant income. That just is not the case. Most home business owners are lucky if they can get out of the red in the first year or two. In fact, many home businesses fail within the first five years due to lack of revenue. However, if you plan properly and stick it out, there is nothing stopping you from becoming one of the home business success stories.

Home Business Internet Growth

There is a misconception running around that Internet-based home businesses have hit the glass ceiling of profit opportunities. According to many, the market is oversaturated and there are currently one-hundred businesses for every Internet need. This could not be further from the truth.

The growth of the Internet is by no means at its ceiling. There are currently approximately one-billion Internet users worldwide. That total is expected to increase to two-billion users by the year 2015. That means there will be about one-billion new consumers hitting the Web in the next 7 years. That is quite a number of prospects to market to and by no means does that look like a glass ceiling. Hopefully, you have found these home business facts to be inspiring!