The information in this article was derived from “The Million-Dollar, One-Person Business” by Elaine Pofeldt, Contributor to Forbes.com.
If you are thinking of starting your own business, you may be worrying about overhead costs, hiring and managing employees, bills, and startup costs. You also might be wondering how much you could make if your business really takes off. These statistics about successful entrepreneurs may inspire you to think bigger. A million dollars bigger.
Ecommerce gives you the opportunity to run a global corporation. By opening an online store for a new idea or an existing brick-and-mortar store, you can expand your reach and have a better chance of building a lucrative business, without the hassle of overhead costs, hiring, firing, and other bills. The beauty of an online business is that it opens up the world of the million dollar, one-person business.
Forbes Researcher, Elaine Pofeldt, determined which types of businesses were being represented in each revenue tier. The U.S. Census Bureau recently released these statistics about non-employer firms.
The number of million dollar, one-person businesses are on the rise:
- 1.6 million owners rang up sales in the $100,000 to $249,999 range (up from 1.5 million in 2010).
- 484, 479 had sales from $250,000 to $499,999 (up from 453,694 in 2010).
- 209,415 had sales between $500,000 to $999,999 (up from 198,755 in 2010).
- 26,744 had sales between $1 million and $2.49 million (up from 24,945 in 2010).
- 1,723 had sales between $2.5 million and $4.99 million (up from 1,618 in 2010).
- 368 had sales of $5 million or more (down from 442 in 2010).
Here’s a breakdown of the types of industries that are succeeding in the million dollar ranks. The number of firms in each industry are represented by the numbers in parenthesis:
$5 million +
- Finance and Insurance Firms (317)
- Arts and Entertainment (45)
- Retail (4)
$2.5 million to $4.99 million
- Retail (494)
- Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (398)
$1 million to $2.49 million
- Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services (6,708)
- Retail (2,595)
$500,000 to $999,999
- Real estate / Rental and Leasing (81,936)
- Construction (27,013)
$250,000 to $499,000
- Real estate / Rental and Leasing (145,146)
- Construction (63,945)
- Professional, Scientific and Technical Services (59,578)
$100,000 to $249,000
- Real estate / Rental and Leasing (342,540)
- Construction (209,843)
Retail is one of the fastest growing industries, particularly online shops. If you are interested in the retail sector, then this information may be of great value to you:
Art Galleries
Of the four $5 million+ businesses in retail, all four were art galleries. There were also 12 art galleries earning $2.5 million to $4.99 million and 39 galleries in the $1 million to $2.49 million range. 2,167 generated over $500,000.
Motor Vehicle & Parts Dealers
Motor vehicle and parts dealers were another high earner in the retail sector. There weren’t any in the $5 million + range, but 428 businesses did make it to the $2.5 million to $4.99 million tier. 1,872 brought in $1 million to $2.49 million, and 5,829 generated over $500,000 in sales.
Ecommerce & Catalogs
Note: This data only includes online-only businesses that do not have a brick-and-mortar store. 168 businesses brought in $1 million to $2.49 million, and 1,162 made over $500,000 in annual revenue.
Direct Selling
53 direct sales businesses sold $2.5 million to $4.99 million 516 businesses sold $1 million to $2.49 million. 104 of these were fuel dealers. 2,574 generated over $500,000. However, 313,315 of these had less than $5,000 in revenue.
Repair & Maintenance Shops
535 auto repair shops and the like made it into the $1 million to $2.49 range. 1,543 generated over $500,000 in sales.
Amusement, Gambling, & Recreation
As you might expect, this sector was one of the highest revenue businesses. 14 made $5 million in revenue, and 44 made over $2.49 million to $4.99 million range.
To research another specific sector, you can use the American FactFinder Tool.
With the expansion of online businesses, these numbers are expected to increase within the next year:
- The number of one-person firms in 2011 was 22.5 million, up 1.7% from 2010.
- Among all 50 states, 48 saw increases in one-person ventures from 2010-2011.
- Total revenues from these microbusinesses rose to $989.6 billion, 4.1% higher than 2010.
- In 2012, global B2C ecommerce sales grew 21.1% from 2011 top $1 trillion for the first time (eMarketer).
- In 2013, ecommerce sales are estimated to grow 18.3% to $1.298 trillion worldwide (eMarketer).
In 2011, the average revenue of the 22.5 million non-employer firms was $44,000. That’s around the average wage in the U.S., which is $45,790. Most of the businesses in this study are sole proprietorships, and a substantial amount of them have broken the $1 million mark. If they can do it, why can’t you?
