There are also professional one-person businesses such as realtors, consultants, accountants, speakers, trainers, free-lance editors, psychotherapists, and tax preparers.
Some one-person businesses are retailers, for example, the flower shops, juice bars and shoe repair stores that flourish in many cities. There is a fellow in Seattle, Washington, who motors his little boat around Lake Union selling espresso and croissants to houseboats, ships at anchor, and shoreline offices. And we’ve encountered many a homey resort-town gift shop catering to the many tourists who drive through each year.
Traditionally, many service trades have been run as one-person businesses, including, housekeeping, beauty salons, shoe shine stands, tailoring, plumbing, carpentry, fortune telling, child-care providers and mechanics. The last twenty years have seen a proliferation of service providers as more and more women join the work-force and households with two wage earners become the norm. As Americans work longer hours and are under more stress many new market niches have been created in the personal service and alternative healing fields which include: herbalists, personal trainers, acupuncturists, aura and angel readers, channelers, and practitioners of bio-feedback.
Regardless of the field, it takes a certain turn of mind, some unique skills, and a big dollop of realism to successfully run a business on your own.
A one-person business is not primarily a stepping-stone to a bigger enterprise, though you could use it in that way. People run one-person businesses because they prefer that form of business. They like the opportunities and freedoms it gives them: