INDUSTRY INSIGHTS YOUR PEERS ARE READING
A recent survey by LinkedIn found that 70% of U.S. small businesses have hired a freelancer in the past and about 50% currently are using freelancers. LinkedIn also found most SMBs plan to hire more freelancers in the future. MORE
We recently released our new coworking forecast for 2018-2022. We are projecting continued rapid growth over the next 5 years, although slower than the industry's recent dizzying pace. The forecast was done this year with help from our friends at GCUC. MORE
One of findings that most surprised us when we first started researching independent workers was how many think independent work is more secure than traditional jobs. MORE
The report The Rise of the Expert Economy is a interesting look at what it calls a "little-known, high-growth sector, made up of networks that connect experts with companies that need them." MORE
Liveops provides cloud-based call center services that utilize an on-demand workforce of agents who live in the U.S. The agents are independent workers who contract with Liveops and work remotely, mostly from home. MORE
The U.S. Census recently released the 2016 nonemployer business statistics. Key quote from their press release : nonemployer establishments increased 2.0 percent from 24,331,403 in 2015 to 24,813,048 in 2016. Receipts increased 1.5 percent from $1.15 trillion in 2015 to $1.17 trillion in 2016. MORE
Uber unveiled a flying taxi eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing) prototype at its recent Elevate conference. The prototype (below) is a cross between a really big drone and a small airplane. MORE
We first reported on bleisure travel , which is the the blending of business and leisure travel, back in 2015. A According to the folks at the expense reporting and management firm, SAP Concur, it continues to gain popularity. MORE
The online freelance talent marketplace Upwork filed last week to go public. According to the filing, Upwork has 375,000 registered freelancers and 475,000 client businesses located across 180 countries. The company reported sales of $164.4 million in 2016 and $202.6 MORE
SAP Fieldglass's External Workforce Insights 2018 study, 44% of workforce spend at large corporation is on external, non-employee talent. MORE
There's been a recent flurry of articles on retirement, mostly focusing on older people staying in the workforce longer than prior generations. An examples is Harvard Business Review's When No One Retires. MORE
PNR: This Old Marketing with Joe Pulizzi and Robert Rose can be found on both iTunes and Stitcher. . In our grand finale episode, Robert kicks things off by pondering the decision to end something, so that something else can begin. MORE
The JP Morgan Chase Institute released their 2018 Online Platform Economy in 2018 study this week. It generated a lot of media attention, most of which focused on the data showing the average rideshare driver's earnings per month declined 53% between 2013 and 2017 (click on the chart to enlarge). MORE
Bloomberg's Inside Google's Shadow Workforce covers the use by Google of what they call TVCs, or “temps, vendors and contractors" According to the article about half of Google's workforce is comprised of TVCs. MORE
In September the U.s. Census Bureau released the Supplemental Poverty Measure: 2017. It reports that 13.9% of Americans lived in poverty in 2017, which is statistically the same as in 2016. This leads to the obvious question what is - and why is there - a supplemental poverty measure. MORE
Duluth's Lincoln Park neighborhood was until recently a rundown section of this lake front city in Minnesota, with many empty storefronts and buildings. But now Lincoln Park is the center of a new artisan business boom. MORE
The U.S. Small Business Administration's (SBA) Office of Advocacy recently released A Look at Non-Employer Businesses , a one-page summary of key data on non-employers businesses. "Non-employer" MORE
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the results of their Electronically Mediated Work study. They found about 1% of the U.S. workforce used an online labor platform during their reference week in May of 2017. This works out to about 1.6 million people. MORE
Since the founding of Emergent Research nearly two decades ago, our mantra has been follow the data to where it leads us. This requires us to minimize the impact of potential biases in our work. MORE
A new academic study reports that the self-employed are happier and more engaged at work than traditional employees are. The reason, according to the study, is they have greater levels of autonomy than traditional employees. MORE
Bankrate recently released a survey showing that 37% of Americans have some sort of side job. The survey was of adult Americans , of which there are about 250 million. This means the survey found about 92 million Americans have side hustles. MORE
7 Tips to Start Small Scale Manufacturing - Business Ideas for Product Makers is a fun and interesting video designed to help makers and other small manufacturers build their business. The video, below, is from the YouTube maker video channel from the highly energetic Evan and Katelyn. MORE
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The Johns Hopkins Non-Profit Economic Data Project recently released new data on the the non-profit sector of the economy. The data is for 2016 (the most recent available) and was developed in conjunction with the U.S. BLS ( click here to go the BLS's non-profit data landing page ). MORE
A study out of the University of Minnesota found that in Minnesota while the younger adults were leaving small, rural towns, people in their thirties, forties and fifties were returning. The chart below shows the key findings from the study. MORE
A recent academic paper - Knitting Community: Human and Social Capital in the Early Transition into Entrepreneurship - covers research on the process hobby knitters go through to decide to turn their hobby into a business. MORE
The IRS released their 2016 tax data on sole proprietors. The data covers business receipts, deductions, and net income reported by taxpayers on Schedule C of tax Form 1040. MORE
Coworking has reached the size and scale where it's starting to have second order impacts on the broader real estate industry. Farthest along is coworking's impact on office design. MORE
Last week Gallup released the results of their Gig Economy and Alternative Work Arrangements study. Gallup found that 36% of U.S. workers are gig workers. Key quote from their report: "Gallup estimates that 29% of all workers in the U.S. MORE
Brookings and the Walton Family Foundation teamed up to produce The State of the Heartland. It's a detailed study of the U.S. Heartland using 26 socioeconomic variables to assess how the region's economy has been performing since the Great Recession. trends MORE
McKinsey's The overlooked essentials of employee well-being focuses on how companies can improve the well-being of their employees. MORE
With all the noise around AI and robotics these days, you'd think this is a great time to be a company that makes robots. And in many ways, it is. According to the International Federation of Robotics, an industry body, worldwide sales of robots increased by 31% in 2017. MORE
In 1936 George Orwell pointed out that one of the main difficulties of owning an independent bookstore is turning a profit. This, of course, was long before Amazon. MORE
MBO Partners last week released Digital Nomadism: A Rising Trend , a research brief on digital nomads. We worked with MBO Partners on this study. Digital Nomads are wanderers who have a location-independent lifestyle that allows them to travel and work anywhere they can plug into the Internet. MORE
We've long found in our research that having work flexibility, autonomy and control are key reasons people become and like being independent workers (freelancers, contractors, self-employed, etc.). MORE
The global accounting and professional services firm EY has developed GigNow , an external online talent platform. MORE
The title of this post is a quote from the NY Times article Sorry, Power-Lunchers. This Restaurant Is a Co-Working Space Now. The article covers Spacious , a startup that transforms unused space - especially restaurants outside of meal times - into shared workspaces. MORE
How To Be A Rock Star In The Elite Expert Segment Of The Gig Economy is an interesting white paper from The Luxury Institute, which claims to be "the world's most trusted luxury and premium goods and services consulting firm." " The Luxury Institute is an expert network firm. MORE
Liquidspace's Q4, 2017 U.S. Flexible Office Report covers the continued growth of coworking and other forms of flexible offices. MORE
Oxford's Internet Institute's research paper The Global Platform Economy: A New Offshoring Institution Enabling Emerging- Economy Micro-Providers covers how online platforms are creating an alternative to traditional outsourcing. MORE
Small Business Labs
NOVEMBER 19, 2018
There's been a recent flurry of articles on retirement, mostly focusing on older people staying in the workforce longer than prior generations. An examples is Harvard Business Review's When No One Retires.
Small Business Labs
NOVEMBER 20, 2018
The U.S. Small Business Administration's (SBA) Office of Advocacy recently released A Look at Non-Employer Businesses , a one-page summary of key data on non-employers businesses. "Non-employer"
Small Business Labs
OCTOBER 16, 2018
McKinsey's The overlooked essentials of employee well-being focuses on how companies can improve the well-being of their employees.
Small Business Labs
NOVEMBER 13, 2018
Oxford's Internet Institute's research paper The Global Platform Economy: A New Offshoring Institution Enabling Emerging- Economy Micro-Providers covers how online platforms are creating an alternative to traditional outsourcing.
Small Business Labs
NOVEMBER 12, 2018
Liveops provides cloud-based call center services that utilize an on-demand workforce of agents who live in the U.S. The agents are independent workers who contract with Liveops and work remotely, mostly from home.
Small Business Labs
NOVEMBER 15, 2018
A recent academic paper - Knitting Community: Human and Social Capital in the Early Transition into Entrepreneurship - covers research on the process hobby knitters go through to decide to turn their hobby into a business.
Small Business Labs
OCTOBER 9, 2018
How To Be A Rock Star In The Elite Expert Segment Of The Gig Economy is an interesting white paper from The Luxury Institute, which claims to be "the world's most trusted luxury and premium goods and services consulting firm." " The Luxury Institute is an expert network firm.
Small Business Labs
OCTOBER 25, 2018
After posting on corporations looking to increase their agility on Tuesday, we found two new reports on business agility in our mailbox on Wednesday. Gallup pointed us to their report The Real Future of Work: The Agility Issue.
Small Business Labs
OCTOBER 8, 2018
We've long found in our research that having work flexibility, autonomy and control are key reasons people become and like being independent workers (freelancers, contractors, self-employed, etc.).
Small Business Labs
SEPTEMBER 11, 2018
The IRS released their 2016 tax data on sole proprietors. The data covers business receipts, deductions, and net income reported by taxpayers on Schedule C of tax Form 1040.
Small Business Labs
SEPTEMBER 24, 2018
The global accounting and professional services firm EY has developed GigNow , an external online talent platform.
Small Business Labs
NOVEMBER 1, 2018
In September the U.s. Census Bureau released the Supplemental Poverty Measure: 2017. It reports that 13.9% of Americans lived in poverty in 2017, which is statistically the same as in 2016. This leads to the obvious question what is - and why is there - a supplemental poverty measure.
Small Business Labs
OCTOBER 22, 2018
Brookings and the Walton Family Foundation teamed up to produce The State of the Heartland. It's a detailed study of the U.S. Heartland using 26 socioeconomic variables to assess how the region's economy has been performing since the Great Recession. trends
Small Business Labs
DECEMBER 22, 2017
PNR: This Old Marketing with Joe Pulizzi and Robert Rose can be found on both iTunes and Stitcher. . In our grand finale episode, Robert kicks things off by pondering the decision to end something, so that something else can begin.
Small Business Labs
OCTOBER 11, 2018
The Staffing Industry Analysts (SIA) recently released their U.S. Gig Economy - 2018 Edition report. They found that about 48 million Americans are in the gig economy, which is 31% of the workforce. They also found about 13.7 million Americans are human cloud workers.
Small Business Labs
JULY 16, 2018
The title of this post is a quote from the NY Times article Sorry, Power-Lunchers. This Restaurant Is a Co-Working Space Now. The article covers Spacious , a startup that transforms unused space - especially restaurants outside of meal times - into shared workspaces.
Small Business Labs
AUGUST 16, 2018
A study out of the University of Minnesota found that in Minnesota while the younger adults were leaving small, rural towns, people in their thirties, forties and fifties were returning. The chart below shows the key findings from the study.
Small Business Labs
JUNE 27, 2018
The U.S. Census recently released the 2016 nonemployer business statistics. Key quote from their press release : nonemployer establishments increased 2.0 percent from 24,331,403 in 2015 to 24,813,048 in 2016. Receipts increased 1.5 percent from $1.15 trillion in 2015 to $1.17 trillion in 2016.
Small Business Labs
SEPTEMBER 4, 2018
MBO Partners last week released Digital Nomadism: A Rising Trend , a research brief on digital nomads. We worked with MBO Partners on this study. Digital Nomads are wanderers who have a location-independent lifestyle that allows them to travel and work anywhere they can plug into the Internet.
Small Business Labs
SEPTEMBER 10, 2018
The online freelance talent marketplace Upwork filed last week to go public. According to the filing, Upwork has 375,000 registered freelancers and 475,000 client businesses located across 180 countries. The company reported sales of $164.4 million in 2016 and $202.6
Small Business Labs
SEPTEMBER 13, 2018
7 Tips to Start Small Scale Manufacturing - Business Ideas for Product Makers is a fun and interesting video designed to help makers and other small manufacturers build their business. The video, below, is from the YouTube maker video channel from the highly energetic Evan and Katelyn.
Small Business Labs
SEPTEMBER 18, 2018
The Johns Hopkins Non-Profit Economic Data Project recently released new data on the the non-profit sector of the economy. The data is for 2016 (the most recent available) and was developed in conjunction with the U.S. BLS ( click here to go the BLS's non-profit data landing page ).
Small Business Labs
AUGUST 28, 2018
A recent survey by LinkedIn found that 70% of U.S. small businesses have hired a freelancer in the past and about 50% currently are using freelancers. LinkedIn also found most SMBs plan to hire more freelancers in the future.
Small Business Labs
OCTOBER 15, 2018
With all the noise around AI and robotics these days, you'd think this is a great time to be a company that makes robots. And in many ways, it is. According to the International Federation of Robotics, an industry body, worldwide sales of robots increased by 31% in 2017.
Small Business Labs
JULY 31, 2018
One of findings that most surprised us when we first started researching independent workers was how many think independent work is more secure than traditional jobs.
Small Business Labs
APRIL 8, 2018
Duluth's Lincoln Park neighborhood was until recently a rundown section of this lake front city in Minnesota, with many empty storefronts and buildings. But now Lincoln Park is the center of a new artisan business boom.
Small Business Labs
SEPTEMBER 26, 2018
The JP Morgan Chase Institute released their 2018 Online Platform Economy in 2018 study this week. It generated a lot of media attention, most of which focused on the data showing the average rideshare driver's earnings per month declined 53% between 2013 and 2017 (click on the chart to enlarge).
Small Business Labs
AUGUST 13, 2018
Coworking has reached the size and scale where it's starting to have second order impacts on the broader real estate industry. Farthest along is coworking's impact on office design.
Small Business Labs
APRIL 16, 2018
According to a report from the global financial giant UBS , 72% of Millennials say starting a business appeals to them. But at the same time, most say it's too risky to do.
Small Business Labs
APRIL 10, 2018
Liquidspace's Q4, 2017 U.S. Flexible Office Report covers the continued growth of coworking and other forms of flexible offices.
Small Business Labs
OCTOBER 1, 2018
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) released the results of their Electronically Mediated Work study. They found about 1% of the U.S. workforce used an online labor platform during their reference week in May of 2017. This works out to about 1.6 million people.
Small Business Labs
SEPTEMBER 20, 2018
Morning Consult's In a Robust Job Market, Gig Workers Satisfaction on a Par With Wider Workforce covers the results of their recent survey of employed Americans.
Small Business Labs
JULY 26, 2018
Bloomberg's Inside Google's Shadow Workforce covers the use by Google of what they call TVCs, or “temps, vendors and contractors" According to the article about half of Google's workforce is comprised of TVCs.
Small Business Labs
MAY 15, 2018
SAP Fieldglass's External Workforce Insights 2018 study, 44% of workforce spend at large corporation is on external, non-employee talent.
Small Business Labs
JULY 10, 2018
Bankrate recently released a survey showing that 37% of Americans have some sort of side job. The survey was of adult Americans , of which there are about 250 million. This means the survey found about 92 million Americans have side hustles.
Small Business Labs
JULY 23, 2018
Since the founding of Emergent Research nearly two decades ago, our mantra has been follow the data to where it leads us. This requires us to minimize the impact of potential biases in our work.
Small Business Labs
MAY 24, 2018
Uber unveiled a flying taxi eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing) prototype at its recent Elevate conference. The prototype (below) is a cross between a really big drone and a small airplane.
Small Business Labs
APRIL 2, 2018
In 1936 George Orwell pointed out that one of the main difficulties of owning an independent bookstore is turning a profit. This, of course, was long before Amazon.
Small Business Labs
AUGUST 21, 2018
Last week Gallup released the results of their Gig Economy and Alternative Work Arrangements study. Gallup found that 36% of U.S. workers are gig workers. Key quote from their report: "Gallup estimates that 29% of all workers in the U.S.
Small Business Labs
JULY 9, 2018
The report The Rise of the Expert Economy is a interesting look at what it calls a "little-known, high-growth sector, made up of networks that connect experts with companies that need them."
Small Business Labs
MARCH 19, 2018
A new academic study reports that the self-employed are happier and more engaged at work than traditional employees are. The reason, according to the study, is they have greater levels of autonomy than traditional employees.
Small Business Labs
DECEMBER 18, 2017
We recently released our new coworking forecast for 2018-2022. We are projecting continued rapid growth over the next 5 years, although slower than the industry's recent dizzying pace. The forecast was done this year with help from our friends at GCUC.
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