| Compiled by John Kador
From the April 2011 issue of Inc. magazine

Crunching the Numbers

Inc. looks at hiring trends, the cost of ink, and sales of trucks and cargo vans.

 

WHAT'S HOT, WHAT'S NOT

Sales increase for fitness and sports centers, the small-business sector with the strongest growth from 2009 to 2010: +13.62%

 
 


Sales decrease for car washes, the small-business sector with the weakest growth from 2009 to 2010: -12.18%


Sageworks

TRENDS

Among people who text, the average number of text messages sent per month:

Men: 555

Women: 716

The Nielsen Company State of the Media 2010

THE WORKPLACE

Area, in square feet, of workspace lost by the average office worker from 1994 to 2010: 15

International Facility Management Association

HIRING

The portion of small businesses hiring in 2010 that said they added fewer workers than they needed: 42%

Reasons for hiring:

Replace an employee who left: 41%

Support growth or expansion plans: 21%

Some other reason: 18%

Don't know: 1%

Revenue or sales has increased: 13%

Economy is getting better: 5%

Tax credit for hiring unemployed workers: 1%

Wells Fargo/Gallup

TAXES

Lowest and highest overall tax burdens for entrepreneurs:

South Dakota: 1st
New Jersey: 50th

Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council

 

REALITY CHECK

Retail price, per gallon, of black ink in the average printer ink cartridge: $4,371

PC World

THE ECONOMY

Increase in the sales of trucks and cargo vans—considered a useful indicator of small-business activity—in the fourth quarter of 2010, compared with a year earlier: 24%

Edmunds.com