U.S. Census Bureau data shows that entrepreneurs applied to federal tax-identification numbers in order to register 4.54 Million new businesses between January 2019 and October. This is an increase of 56 per cent over the same period in 2019.
According to Wall Street Journal this was the highest number of records dating back to 2004.
According to a Journal article, two-thirds of tax-ID number applications were for businesses who are not expected hire employees.
“Workers quit jobs in droves to become their own bosses”The headline was. The headline did not address questions about the shorter and longer time frames.
Those questions include:
How many — or what percentage — of the new crop of well-meaning entrepreneurs are likely to fail in their endeavors within a year or two, or perhaps more quickly?
What percentage could be expected five years from now to be working for another boss, perhaps after having abandoned promising, lucrative careers that didn’t fully meet the challenges? “going it alone”Would it be possible?
Close to home. How does the local region fit in to the overall landscape presented by the Journal article? How many local businesses that are now being started will fit into the picture of failure that was left open by the Journal article for personal reflection?
Naturally, Warren, Dunkirk, and Jamestown are not going to be able to provide large numbers of new entrepreneurs. Our two-state region is included in the national startup statistics and will one day have to join the rest the country in finding ways of dealing with any business failures.
According to the Wall Streeet Journal, “This year, the share of U.S. workers who work for a firm with at least 1,000 employees has fallen for the first time since 2004, Labor Department data show.
In the meantime, the U.S. has seen its self-employed workers rise to their highest point in 11 years. In October, they represented 5.9 percent of U.S. workers versus 5.4 percent in February 2020.”
Most Americans worked for themselves up until the late 19th-century. New technologies have changed this. Many people choose to work on the factory floor. They are able to work within a defined work schedule and what the Journal describes as a “safe environment.” “hierarchies” — workers overseen by managers overseen by executives.
Fast forward to the pandemic. It has caused many people reevaluate their future plans. Many are opting for a life that allows them to be more in control of their destiny.
Not surprisingly, even many expert observers never contemplated this year’s rate of new-business startups. That is clear from the Journal’s attention to the topic that included interviews with people who shut down their employment careers in favor of self-employment — heading some new startup enterprise of their own.
Stock market fluctuations are not uncommon “corrections,”It seems likely that there will also be corrections to this new-business boom.
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