I do not have Nigerian statistics but I am certain there are huge similarities between our business structure and that of the USA.

According to Michael Gerber, 98% of all businesses in the USA have 20 employees or less. 90% of those have less than 10 employees, and most have less than five employees. Today, 67% percent of all companies in the U.S. are sole proprietorships, or one-person operations.

I suspect Nigerian statistics will be similar to the USA in terms of number of small businesses (98%) but higher (upwards of 95%) in terms of the % of one-person operations.

Sadly one-man businesses face a lot of challenges that make them unattractive. A lot can benefit from help from private sector and Government initiatives.

Many job seekers tell me they don’t want to work for one man businesses. I hear this all the time and I see people outrightly reject opportunities in one-man operations. However, the statisitcs tell us that most jobs are in the dreaded one-man businesses. So fate will have it that to close the unemployment gap, majority of job seekers will need to rethink their job seeking strategy. Not a preferred option by most but the data states the reality of the situation.