In a report released yesterday by the US Census Bureau, we learn that 49% of American businesses are run from home.

We also learn from the survey that more than 60% of business owners used their own money to launch operations.

Here are other findings from the survey:

Most businesses are “self-made”

• People using their own money or family assets for business startups included 77 percent for businesses with paid employees and 59 percent for businesses with no paid employees.

   

• Top industries for these “self-made” businesses were: accommodation and food services (79 percent), manufacturing (78 percent), wholesale trade (74 percent) and retail trade (72 percent).

   

• Nearly 3-in-10 (28 percent) of all entrepreneurs started or acquired their business with no capital at all.

   

• Nearly 1-in-10 U.S. businesses -- both employer firms and nonemployer firms -- were started by owners who used personal or business credit cards to finance the startup or acquisition.

Business owners are highly educated, 3-in-10 are over 55 and 14 percent are veterans

• In 2002, 64 percent of business owners had at least some college education at the time they started or acquired ownership in their business, 23 percent had a bachelor’s degree and 17 percent had a graduate degree. Just over 1-in-4 owners had a high school education or less.

   

• Thirty-one percent of owners were more than 55 years of age, 29 percent were between 45 and 54, and 24 percent were between 35 and 44. Only 2 percent of owners were less than 25 years of age.

   

• Fourteen percent of business owners in 2002 were veterans; 73 percent of those operated with no paid employees. Nearly 7 percent of veteran business owners were disabled as a result of injury incurred or aggravated during active military service.