One-man businesses defy recession in the Netherlands

Statistics Netherlands has just released a report on the success rates of one-man businesses. Considering their performances throughout the last six years, the report made some interesting findings.

Post-recession business boom

Its most significant discovery was that one-man businesses launched in 2009 had better survival rates than those launched 2 years previously.

This is somewhat surprising given that our ubiquitous recession kicked in in 2008. According to these findings, businesses that started during the crisis have actually flourished compared to those launched prior to 2008.

One-man businesses which started up in 2007 had a 63 per cent success rate three years later. Meanwhile, 75 per cent of those businesses which launched in 2009 were still up-and-running in 2012.

Unexpected profit shifts

Those businesses which did manage to survive from 2007 to 2011 were also subject to declining profit margins (an average reduction of 11 per cent). The study suggests that this is due to recent increases in the cost of materials.

But strangely, the sector which was saw the smalled decrease in profits was construction. This could be because things such as maintenance must always be carried out - even when times are hard.