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2018 U.S. Home-Based Business Statistics

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Running your own business while working from home might
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Of course, in order for your home-based business to succeed,
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Whether you work as a solopreneur, consultant or marketing us-home-based-business-

professional; sell products from home through online platforms statistics/)

like Amazon or perform other home-based business activities, 8. If You’re Not a U.S. Citizen,
Can You Get an EIN for
there are more ways than ever to get the word out about your
Your Business?
business. Let’s take a look at statistics, predictions, and trends (https://www.incfile.com/blog/post/if-
that home-based business owners should know to navigate the youre-not-a-u-s-citizen-
competitive landscape in 2018 and beyond. can-you-get-an-ein-for-
your-business/)

Welcome to the “Freelance Economy” 9. Free Entrepreneur

Workshops, Seminars,
In addition to opportunities for entrepreneurs and self-starters, Business Training and
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there are a growing number of flexible jobs for those who don’t
Business Owners
want to work a traditional 9-5 role. The rise of the “gig economy” (https://www.incfile.com/blog/post/free-
or “freelance economy” is opening up great home-based online-event-for-
business opportunities for people with professional skills and entrepreneurs/)
entrepreneurial hustle. Even organizations that typically hire full- 10. Why You Should Form an
time workers are increasingly offering remote positions for LLC vs. Sole
Proprietorship
workers who live in other cities, or those who can easily perform
(https://www.incfile.com/blog/post/form
their job functions from home. llc-vs-sole-proprietorship/)

According to the New York Times

(https://www.nytimes.com/2017/02/15/us/remote-workers-work-
from-home.html), about 43 percent of the U.S. workforce FOLLOW INCFILE
performed some work remotely in 2016. It is estimated
(https://www.upwork.com/press/2017/10/17/freelancing-in-
america-2017/) that at least 50 percent of millennials work as (https://twitter.com/incfile)
freelancers, and the majority of the workforce will soon join
them within the next decade. In fact, more and more freelancers (https://www.facebook.com/incfile)
are doing so by choice rather than by necessity.

(https://www.linkedin.com/company/incfile-
This rise of remote work and the growing comfort level of
com/)
employers to hire independent contractors (or let employees
(https://plus.google.com/+Incfile/about)
work from home) is creating new opportunities for solopreneurs
to start their own home-based businesses. Whatever kind of
internet-enabled skills or expertise you have, rest assured you
can almost certainly turn it into a home-based business. CATEGORIES

Personalized and AI-Driven Marketing  Blog Home (/Blog/)

Small and home-based businesses can be more productive than  Amazon Business
(Https://Www.incfile.com/Blog/Tag/Amazon-
ever before thanks to the rise of personalized and artificial
Business/)
intelligence (AI)-based marketing tools. The idea of AI technology
being available to a home-based business owner may seem far-  Branding
fetched or too expensive to manage. But many experts predict (Https://Www.incfile.com/Blog/Tag/Branding

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2018 U.S. Home-Based Business Statistics | Incfile Page 3 of 8

(https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/302655) that AI-driven  Business Accounting

CRM (customer relationship management) platforms, social (Https://Www.incfile.com/Blog/Tag/Business
media tools and other software functions will be available to Accounting/)
small business owners in 2018 and beyond.  Business Banking
(Https://Www.incfile.com/Blog/Tag/Business
These new technologies will help home-based businesses offer Banking/)
the same kinds of efficient, personalized customer service
 Business Credit And Loans
experiences that larger companies can deliver — at the same (Https://Www.incfile.com/Blog/Tag/Business
volume and at a lower cost without an army of employees. For Credit-And-Loans/)
example, software such as Acquisio (https://www.acquisio.com)
 Business Finance
can help home-based business owners optimize their digital
(Https://Www.incfile.com/Blog/Tag/Business
marketing efforts across multiple platforms. Finance/)

 Business Ideas
Sole Proprietorships Remain the Most (Https://Www.incfile.com/Blog/Tag/Business
Common Small Businesses Ideas/)

The Small Business Administration reports  Business Insurance

(Https://Www.incfile.com/Blog/Tag/Business
(https://www.sba.gov/sites/default/files/advocacy/SB-FAQ-2017-
Insurance/)
WEB.pdf) that around 50 percent of small businesses are home-
based firms, including 60.1 percent of firms without paid  Business License And
employees. Sole proprietorships are by far the most common Permits
(Https://Www.incfile.com/Blog/Tag/Business
types of these businesses, according to the same data.
License-And-Permits/)

Yet there are several benefits to forming a single member LLC  Business Marketing
(https://www.incfile.com/limited-liability-company/) for your (Https://Www.incfile.com/Blog/Tag/Business
Marketing/)
home-based business. Whether you want to become a freelance
writer, sell products on Amazon, work as a consultant in your  Business Names
area of expertise, or any other home-based business activities, (Https://Www.incfile.com/Blog/Tag/Business
Names/)
consider using inexpensive LLC formation services to protect
your personal assets from business legal liabilities. Incfile offers  Business Owner Of The
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order-now.php) that cost a few hundred dollars or less, in (Https://Www.incfile.com/Blog/Tag/Business
Owner-Of-The-Month/)
addition to your state’s filing fees.
 Business Protection
The Concept of a Workplace Will Continue (Https://Www.incfile.com/Blog/Tag/Business
Protection/)
to Change
 Business Sales
The annual Staples Workplace Survey (Https://Www.incfile.com/Blog/Tag/Business
(https://www.staples.com/sbd/cre/marketing/workplace-survey/) Sales/)
recently found that the concept of “workplace” is continuing to  Business Surveys And Data
evolve, which is opening up new opportunities and credibility for (Https://Www.incfile.com/Blog/Tag/Business
home-based businesses. For example, a mere 32 percent of Surveys-And-Data/)

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2018 U.S. Home-Based Business Statistics | Incfile Page 4 of 8

employees spent all of their time at work in the office. What’s  Business Tax
more, a significant portion (43 percent) said that the option to (Https://Www.incfile.com/Blog/Tag/Business
work remotely is a “must-have” for today’s workers. Tax/)

 Business Technology
The study also found more data that reinforces this direction (Https://Www.incfile.com/Blog/Tag/Business
toward a heavily remote workforce. Perhaps the most eye- Technology/)
popping statistic
 Business Trademark
(http://staplesadvantage.newshq.businesswire.com/press- (Https://Www.incfile.com/Blog/Tag/Business
release/new-normal-office-workers-your-company-keeping? Trademark/)
cid=EM:WorkPlaceIndex:43059::) is that only 27 percent of
 Business Types
millennials spend all their work time in a traditional office. What
(Https://Www.incfile.com/Blog/Tag/Business
does this mean for your home-based business? It means that the Types/)
idea of having a traditional “office” or storefront is less important
 Consultants
than ever before. If you have a good website, a social media
(Https://Www.incfile.com/Blog/Tag/Consultan
presence, a network of contacts on LinkedIn and other online
assets, it doesn’t matter anymore if your business is conducted  Corporations
(Https://Www.incfile.com/Blog/Tag/Corporat
out of your house.
 Cryptocurrency
Top Types of Home-Based Businesses for (Https://Www.incfile.com/Blog/Tag/Cryptocu

2018  Data
(Https://Www.incfile.com/Blog/Tag/Data/)
Entrepreneur recently published a list of 75 jobs
(https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/292277) you can do while  DBA
(Https://Www.incfile.com/Blog/Tag/Dba/)
working from home. Many of these careers are relevant to
starting a home-based business as a freelance professional, and  Digital Nomads
even easier to perform with digital tools available to freelancers. (Https://Www.incfile.com/Blog/Tag/Digital-
Nomads/)

For example, there are a wide variety of marketing roles you can  Food Trucks
perform from home, as well as accounting and bookkeeping (Https://Www.incfile.com/Blog/Tag/Food-
services. Careers in information technology, such as web design Trucks/)

and tech support, also lend themselves well to becoming a  Form A Business
home-based business. Depending on your career experience (Https://Www.incfile.com/Blog/Tag/Form-
and expertise, you could always start freelancing on the side! A-Business/)
(Just make sure not to run afoul of any non-compete or “no  Founders & Entrepreneurs
moonlighting” agreements with your day job.) (Https://Www.incfile.com/Blog/Tag/Founders
Entrepreneurs/)
Rise of Ecommerce Can Fuel Home-Based  Franchise
Businesses (Https://Www.incfile.com/Blog/Tag/Franchise

With the rise in ecommerce platforms and the decline of brick-  Grow A Business
(Https://Www.incfile.com/Blog/Tag/Grow-
and-mortar retail stores, home-based business owners have
A-Business/)
more opportunities than ever to create an online marketplace
and sell products from home. The rise of ecommerce means you

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2018 U.S. Home-Based Business Statistics | Incfile Page 5 of 8

no longer need to invest in renting commercial real estate, and  Hiring & People
you don’t have to rely on your own local community to find a (Https://Www.incfile.com/Blog/Tag/Hiring-
market for your products — you can sell to customers all over People/)
the world.  Incfile Info
(Https://Www.incfile.com/Blog/Tag/Incfile-
You may not realize it, but you probably already know someone Info/)
who sells their own goods or resells existing products on an
 Incfile Updates
ecommerce platform, such as Amazon, Etsy or eBay. By 2019, (Https://Www.incfile.com/Blog/Tag/Incfile-
ecommerce sales are expected to top $3.3 trillion Updates/)
(https://www.statista.com/statistics/379046/worldwide-retail-e-
 Leadership
commerce-sales/) globally. You can be a part of this substantial
(Https://Www.incfile.com/Blog/Tag/Leadersh
growth in online retail sales right from your home office!
 Legal Contracts
(Https://Www.incfile.com/Blog/Tag/Legal-
Are you ready to make your home-based business dream come
Contracts/)
true? Incfile can help you start a business
(https://www.incfile.com/start-your-company/), form an LLC or  Legislation
reorganize your existing business structure. Even if your (Https://Www.incfile.com/Blog/Tag/Legislatio

business is home-based, we’ll help you set up an official legal  LLCs

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