As they have in the past when the economy has gone south, small and home-based businesses are becoming more popular — and cities are trying to help them prosper.
Based on the number of licenses it’s already issued to home-based businesses since January, Antioch is projecting a nearly 37 percent increase in these micro enterprises this year.
Pittsburg has seen the number of home-based businesses grow by 48.5 percent since 2006. Over the past year and a half, four small restaurants and a yogurt shop have opened, and a bakery is scheduled to follow suit soon.
And in Brentwood, anecdotal information suggests that the number of startups is growing.
“Small does not necessarily mean insignificant,” said Alex Greenwood, Brentwood’s planning and economic development manager.
The city last month launched an effort to help its small businesses graduate from home offices or, for those already leasing commercial space, to continue expanding.
The approximately 565 businesses in the city with fewer than 50 employees — about 300 of which are home-based — have created an estimated 4,500 jobs, he said. That’s about 62 percent of the city’s 7,287 jobs, according to Greenwood.
People are deciding to become their own boss after being laid off or because they’re tired of worrying about losing their job, he said, adding that others don’t like the changes that the economy has forced their employer to make.
… Rowena Coetsee’s article has superbly illustrated the rising trend throughout those countries hit by the resent economic crisis. The rest of the article continues this, and is well worth the read.
It looks to me as though the ‘Old order’ (everyone relying on themselves for their sustenance and finding multiple income streams where ever they can) and the ‘New Order’ (depending solely upon a corporate entity for ones livelihood) are starting to come together and more people are running home businesses in conjunction with their ‘normal’ job. What do you think? Let us know below.
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