Small businesses run by an individual or a family with no other paid employees made up a large chunk of U.S. companies and are growing in number, according to a recent U.S. Census Bureau study.
Such “nonemployer” businesses increased by more than 1 million between 2003 and 2004 to 19.5 million, or 70% of all companies.
Small businesses are becoming more varied, too, as the Internet opens up new opportunities. Internet service providers, in fact, were among the fastest-growing segments, increasing by 18.7%, and companies offering Internet-based consumer sales increased 12.7%.