The following article was posted in the CPA Practice Advisor on June 13, 2013 (http://www.cpapracticeadvisor.com/news/10961047/more-americans-moonlighting-with-ecommerce-jobs?utm_source=CPA+Payroll+Advisor&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=CCSN130608002). I found it interesting as the types of businesses we generally work with are small businesses, many owned by a single person needing assistance with bookkeeping. This article shows a trend of opening businesses while maintaining another job.
A growing number of U.S. workers are creating a second source of income by starting their own businesses while also working a full or part-time job, a trend known as “moonlighting.”
Analysis by e-commerce platform Bigcommerce.com over a three-month period this year found an unusually large amount of activity being logged by “indie” online retailers outside of regular office hours.
Bigcommerce sampled nearly 20,000 of its U.S. stores and found that roughly 30-35 percent of all activity took place between 6 p.m. and 8 a.m. CT, with a surprisingly large amount occurring after midnight.
Looking at various segments of time throughout a given workday, the data shows that at noon — the peak time for activity on Bigcommerce stores — nearly 80 percent of online retailers were found to be working on their stores. At midnight, there were still more than 49 percent actively working. At 3 p.m., nearly half of online retailers were working, with 25 percent still burning the midnight oil at 3 a.m.
Regionally, the breakdown of moonlighting Americans paints an interesting picture of the state of the U.S. job market:
The data found that 33 percent — the largest group of moonlighters — are based in Southern states (with Florida, Georgia and Texas having the highest concentration in the region). 27 percent are based on the West Coast (led by Arizona, Colorado and California). 24 percent of the U.S. moonlighters are in the Northeast (led by New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C.). 15 percent are located in the Midwest U.S. (led by Michigan, Illinois and Ohio).
“The data paints a new picture of the modern day entrepreneur,” said Bigcommerce co-founder and co-CEO, Eddie Machaalani. “Through daily conversations with our clients and monitoring this trend over recent years, we understand that many of these small business owners are pulling long hours to run their business and work a full or part-time job on top of that, but these numbers provide us with hard stats and evidence.”
Machaalani believes this change in behavior can be attributed to either longer hours being worked by business owners, or a greater number who prefer to work late because they are busy during the day, an indicator that they have another job.
“Opening an e-commerce business is relatively easy in today’s marketplace,” explained Machaalani. “These days, all you need is a few minutes, a credit card and an Internet connection to get a fully operational online store up and running. These passionate entrepreneurs show that it’s possible to start and grow your own business while also maintaining an additional source of income.”
If you are one of the entrepreneurs described in this article, you are probably overwhelmed with all the work you need to do. Call us for bookkeeping assistance and get peace of mind knowing professionals are supporting you. 310-534-5577 or [email protected].
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