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