In one form or another this is one of the most frequent questions that I am asked:

I was struck by your statement that business schools do not teach their students what type of small businesses are the most profitable. As a current business student, I have to tell this is very true, at least in the case of my school. I wanted to ask if you could direct me to resources that document which small businesses are the most profitable?  Andrew

 

Noting these and other caveats the profitability [5 separate measures] of 153 categories of small businesses can be found in Millionaire Women Next Door.  These figures apply to both men and women.  Among my favorite most profitable small businesses [average return on receipts] are management services on a contract basis, .55; engineering services, .44; real estate property managers, .40; medical and dental laboratories, .40; child daycare, .39; barber shops, .38 and janitorial/dust contol services, .33.  However, as mentioned in an earlier blog, you may wish to avoid opening a gift shop, for example, since the average income of the more than 105,000 stores of this type was only $7.70!