University of Strathclyde researchers say that more than a third of the UK small businesses are run from home.
Amazingly, 10% of those have a turnover of ‘at least’ £250,000 and employ more than ten workers.
The report says that more than half of the total have increased sales in the last twelve months with 58% intending to grow their business.
However, despite the figures, home based businesses are often ‘invisible’ or viewed has having little or no economic value.
Professor Colin Mason, co-author of the study, warned that with an increasing number of new entrepreneurs selecting home as their place of work, local, national and regional enterprise policy needs to change.
“We are likely to see a growing demand for domestic properties that can accommodate home businesses,” Prof Mason claimed. “Moreover, some types of housing, such as high rise apartment blocks, are likely to be significant barriers to operating a home based business in a large city.”
The report warned that the home based business needs more clarity, with many respondents unsure of their legality, tax situation and regulations.
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1 comment so far
1 Startup Guidance // Oct 2, 2008 at 4:14 pm
This news doesn’t surprise me. In fact, I would have imagined the figure even bigger than that as startups attempt to reduce overheads to pump into stock or development.
Legality is an issue, so to the implications of business rates and taxes but for those working online, the advantages are stacked in your favour in my opinion.