"I Do It Alone"... Surpassing 1 Million One-Person Creative Enterprises

Ministry of SMEs and Startups Announces
Results of the "2024 One-Person Creative Enterprise Survey"

As of 2022, the number of one-person creative enterprises exceeded 1 million. A one-person creative enterprise refers to an individual or a joint business of fewer than five people with creativity and expertise, operating a business without any regular employees.

On the 19th, the Ministry of SMEs and Startups announced the results of the "2024 One-Person Creative Enterprise Survey." This survey targeted one-person creative enterprises registered in the 2022 Business Register (SBR) of Statistics Korea, classified under 43 medium categories according to the Korean Standard Industrial Classification.

The survey results showed that as of 2022, the total number of one-person creative enterprises was 1,007,769, a 2.0% increase from the previous year, surpassing 1 million for the first time. By industry, the main sectors were found to be "Manufacturing" (24.2%), "E-commerce" (24.2%), "Educational Services" (17.3%), and "Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services" (10.8%). By region, Gyeonggi accounted for 28.5%, Seoul 22.6%, Busan 6.2%, Gyeongnam 6.0%, and Incheon 5.5%, with the metropolitan area comprising 56.6% and non-metropolitan areas 43.4%.

Status of Characteristics of Creative Enterprises

The average business duration was about 12.6 years, with companies established "before 2011" accounting for the highest proportion at 41.2%, indicating that the form of one-person creative enterprises has been maintained for a long period. The relevance between previous and current industries was 63.4%, the average employment period before starting a business was 15.5 years, and 63.4% had worked in small and medium-sized enterprises.

The average age of representatives was 54.7 years, with males accounting for 72.6% and females 27.4%. The average sales per company were 236 million KRW, and net profit was 34.8 million KRW. Due to the nature of one-person creative enterprises, sole proprietorships (85.9%) outnumbered corporations (14.1%). The main clients were "individual consumers" at 68.8%, followed by "businesses" at 28.5%, and "government/public institutions" at 2.5%.

The motivations for starting a one-person creative enterprise were "to earn higher income" (37.8%), "to utilize aptitude and ability" (28.1%), and "to sustain livelihood" (14.6%), in that order. The average preparation period for starting a business was 11.7 months. Additionally, the average time to first sales after starting the business was 2.7 months, and the average time to reach the break-even point was 28.6 months.

Jo Kyung-won, Director of Startup Policy at the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, said the survey results show that "people mainly start businesses around the age of 40, entering middle age after about 15 years of work experience, equipped with expertise and creativity," and added, "We will do our best to create an environment where capable individuals can venture into entrepreneurship."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.