Residential construction is a prime sector for one-person firms (a business with no paid employees, so the business consists only of the owner) as, in 2014, there were 1.7 million one-person firms in specialty trade contracting (think carpenters, electricians, and plumbers), 582,000 in residential building construction (home builders and remodelers), and 11,000 in land subdivision (developers of residential lots), NAHB’s Eye on Housing blog reports.
The average receipts for one-person specialty trade contractors were $51,000 in 2014. Residential building construction one-person firms were a bit larger with average receipts of $74,000 and land subdivision was the largest with average receipts of $158,000. After hitting the lowest point during the Great Recession, the average receipts for all three industries have increased to almost the same level as in 2007.
One-person firms tended to be less volatile than other firms during the downturn, which may be attributed to workers getting laid off from larger companies and then going out on their own and forming their own one-person businesses. Then, during the recovery period, they would return to work for someone else.
For the full analysis of the data, click the link below.
