The number of self-employed professionals in the United States has dipped to a 25-year low as more and more home-based and small businesses are closing their doors. Six years ago in 2006, self-employed reached a high, with more than 16 million using it to independently support themselves. Today, there are millions fewer who call themselves self-employed.
Business Owners
The numbers suggest that business owners are among those who have been hit the hardest by the Great Recession. Usually, self-employment increases during economic slumps, and the numbers were true to this trend just a few short years ago. But this recession is entirely unlike those which have come before.
In past recessions, it’s been the small businesses that turn the tide to turn around the economy. But that’s not the case this time. Recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that start-ups are in a sharp decline. Today’s numbers are the lowest since the Bureau began recording the statistic in 1977.
Are the days of small business over? And if they are, what does that mean for self-employment?
The Struggle for Self-Employment
Numbers never tell the whole story, and anyone could easily make themselves crazy by studying self-employment stats. The Great Recession isn’t like other recessions from the past, so it’s no surprise that the data seems confusing. And it’s no secret that traditional self-employment is changing and adapting. Family farms, mom-and-pop stores, community newspapers -- they’ve all been in a downward slide for many years. The numbers could reflect, not so much a downward trend in small businesses and self-employment, but instead they could mark an adaptation from the old to the new.
The New Self-Employment
New self-employment is Internet-friendly. Brick-and-mortar family businesses may be more difficult to establish and harder to keep open, but online businesses have more opportunities to thrive than ever. Sites like Etsy and eBay can turn casual craft-makers and shoppers into entrepreneurs. Writers who turn their attentions online will find that self-publishing is easier (and cheaper) than it was in the past. And home-based businesses who want to connect with customers have more options for doing so.
With the number of self-employed professionals in the world on an apparent decline, independent professionals may see the future as looking pretty grim. But less competition equals more opportunities, and even a recession won’t make self-employment fade away. Numbers don’t lie, but they very often only show a little piece of a much, much larger picture.
KC Morgan - KC Morgan has been the featured writer in Self-Employment since 2006, using personal experience to create guides to being self-employed.
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