Slip-Slidin' Away?Will a decline in businesses be a downer for entrepreneurs?
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Though it seems business is finally emerging from the doom andgloom of the economic downturn, a recent study byInfoUSA, an Omaha,Nebraska, firm that collects business data as part of its databasemarketing services and sales solutions, found that in 2003, thenumber of businesses decreased slightly after growing steadily forsix years. According to InfoUSA, there were 12.79 millionbusinesses in 2003, down from 12.84 million a year before.
Vinod Gupta, president of InfoUSA, attributed the slight declineto the overall economic downturn after 9/11. He explains that 2002didn't see a huge dip in the number of businesses because itgenerally takes about six months to a year for businesses toexhaust all their resources and fail during a slump. As such, anyupturn in business numbers should happen about six months to a yearafter the economy picks up.
Continue reading this article — and all of our other premium content with Entrepreneur+
Join the internet’s leading entrepreneur community! With your subscription you’ll get:
- Unlimited access, including premium content
- No ads
- Subscription to狗万官方magazine
- Four free e-books a year
- Subscriber-only events with our experts