The 1995 Inc. 500 Almanac

A comprehensive selection of facts and figures concerning Inc. 500 compaines and entrepreneurs.

Visit the Inc. 500 site, which includes a fully searchable database of winners from 1983 to the present

How old are the Inc. 500 companies? What markets are they in? How many got started at home? And much more . . .

The Vital Statistics
Average 1994 revenues $22,906,000

Average number of employees 118.7

Average age of company (in years) 8.7

Median 1994 revenues $8,873,000

Median 1994 profitability range 1%ñ5%

Median amount of starting capital $25,000

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The Inc. 500 by Geography
A. Number of Inc. 500 Employees per 100,000 Employees in Each State

B. Number of Inc. 500 Companies by State

	A	B
AL	11.8	5
AK	0	0
AR	0	0
AZ	65.4	8
CA	56.0	85
CO	42.9	9
CT	16.3	3
DC	21.8	2
DE	6.4	1
FL	45.6	30
GA	69.2	16
HI	0	0
IA	29.0	3
ID	19.1	1
IL	27.0	21
IN	17.1	7
KS	29.0	7
KY	13.4	3
LA	1.3	1
MA	41.5	23
MD	215.1	22
ME	0	0
MI	33.2	20
MN	46.3	18
MO	40.2	9
MS	2.7	1
MT	0	0
NC	27.7	12
ND	0	0
NE	7.7	1
NH	47.3	7
NJ	50	16
NM	6.7	2
NV	9.2	1
NY	19.2	18
OH	29.3	20
OK	47.8	6
OR	36.7	6
PA	28.0	13
RI	41.8	4
SC	60.2	5
SD	13.2	1
TN	55.0	9
TX	58.7	39
UT	64.9	6
VA	77.4	19
VT	6.5	1
WA	44.3	12
WI	33.6	7
WV	0	0
WY	0	0

Although there's a clear bias toward the major population centers, the Inc. 500 are literally all over the map. In some states their job-creating impact ought to make local pols pay serious attention to growth companies.

Source of data on total number of employees per state: Woods & Poole Economics Inc.

The Inc. 500 by Industry
Sure, the computer industry keeps spawning companies, but look at the telecommunications sector -- and then read the story about this year's number one company. Following, the number of Inc. 500 companies in each industry . . .

	in 1992	in 1995
Construction	35	23
Environmental Goods & Services	31	10
Financial Services	3	20
Health	43	39
Industrial Equipment	25	20
Media	9	9
Telecommunications	15	45
Transportation	10	14
Consumer Goods & Services	77	76
Business Services	79	97
Computers	114	143

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Where Businesses Start
And you thought basements and garages were the only places to start a company? The real surprise is that more than 60% of businesses are started somewhere other than the CEO's cellar. But what about the company builders who turn their quiet suburban cul-de-sacs into Fed Ex parkways for some two years or more after founding a business? You've got to admire the tolerance of their neighbors.

Percentage of businesses started at home: 38.6%

Average age of those businesses when they moved from the home: 27.4 months

Average number of employees at those businesses when they moved from the home: 6.6

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Start-up Period
It took just a little more than one year to get the average Inc. 500 company up and running, from the original idea to the beginning of operations. On average, founders stayed at their old jobs for four months before going with their businesses full-time.

* * *

Starting Capital
Yes, the Small Business Administration has funds to give out, and, yes, banks are becoming friendlier -- up to a point. But family members are still the best source of external funding. Here's the average percentage breakdown of where the Inc. 500 companies' starting capital came from: