Self-Employment and Computer Use

The SBA recently released an interesting story on computer use by self-employed individuals. Gee, that sounds like a story for me to read. It may be of interest to you if you are working to increase self-employment options in your community or you are working on a telecommuter strategy for your area.

Here is what the SBA found:

* Self-employed persons with computers numbered 10.5 million in 2000 compared to 9.2 million in 1998.

* Between 1998 and 2000, self-employed computer ownership increased by 14.7 percent.

* Access to the Internet by the self-employed grew 50.4 percent during these two years.

* In 2000, 83.2 percent of self-employed individuals had Internet access. Of these, 72.5 percent used a regular or dial-up service for Internet access.

*The three most important uses of the Internet by the self-employed were in 2000 were sending and receiving email, accomplishing job-related tasks; and searching for information.

* Computer prices dropped continuously throughout the 1990s. Between 1990 and 1994, prices of computers and peripherals fell by an average of 12.8 percent yearly.

* Between 1995 and 1999, computer prices plummeted twice as much, by an average of 24.1 percent annually.

* In 2000, nearly two-thirds (64.3 percent) of self-employed households had one computer, 23.3 percent had two computers, and 12.4 percent had three or more computers.

* In 2001 self-employed persons that were home-based businesses numbered 5.9 million and represented 29.7 percent of the self-employed.

* One-quarter of all capital expenditures by small and medium-size firms was spent on computer and communications equipment in 1998.

* Two-thirds (65.9 percent) of self-employed businesses with computers were unincorporated, and 34.1 percent were incorporated in 2000.

Get the full report here.