How to Make Millions on Main Street

If you want to get rich, it turns out you don’t have to go to Silicon Valley or Bay Street. You might just need to open a grocery store in Gander or a car dealership in Oshawa. That’s the takeaway of The Everywhere Millionaire, a new book by Owen Zidar and Eric Zwick, economists who spent years poring through the tax data of eight million (mostly U.S.) entrepreneurs. They found something surprising: while the Forbes 400 richest people control some US$4 trillion in wealth, some three million “Main Street millionaires” — i.e., everyday small-business owners — possess a whopping $55 trillion, and most got rich in mostly boring ways. We recently spoke with Zidar about his findings and what Canadians might learn from them.

Many people feel that achieving real, substantial wealth is beyond their reach. How does your book challenge that notion?

People picture Elon Musk becoming a trillionaire and assume all the action is in AI, Silicon Valley, or Wall Street. It’s just not. Our book documents a hidden world of ordinary people who’ve gotten rich running unglamorous private businesses. Think auto dealers, beverage distributors, contractors. If you want proof, go to any nice part of Canada or the U.S. and ask who owns the big houses, and often it’s someone who owns seven Jiffy Lubes or runs a couple of dental offices.

What’s the common thread among these Main Street business owners?

They’re relentless. They rolled up their sleeves and worked hard. The typical everyday millionaire didn’t inherit their business — only about 25% are family firms. The majority founded or acquired them. They come from a broad range of backgrounds and often work for decades to build their wealth. The pool of people who can build a great business is much broader than pedigree or education alone would suggest.

Do the Main Street millionaires undercut the notion that giant corporations, private equity, and the like have hurt the middle class by hoarding wealth?  

Two things are simultaneously true: people from all backgrounds can start low and end high. And yet we also write, “Main Street Millionaires are central characters in the saga of rising inequality.” Since the late 1980s, private-business owners have aggressively concentrated wealth by taking a larger share of the pie. In 2001, about 37% of pay at top-owned private businesses went to owners; by 2022, it was roughly half. [Inequality in Canada has followed a similar trend.]

OK, let’s say you’re a 30-something Canadian with an average salary and an entrepreneurial spirit and you know you’re capable of running a business. What next? 

One opportunity is to look for good, cash-flowing companies whose owners are approaching retirement. Maybe their kids don’t want to take over or they don’t want to sell to private equity. Whatever the case, a small-business owner could be very interested in finding someone to take over who has a fresh vision or is willing to make a long-term commitment. And even in industries dominated by huge companies, there’s room for successful private businesses. It’s competitive, but the opportunity is still enormous.

This interview was edited for length and clarity.

Written By

Claire Porter Robbins

Claire Porter Robbins is a freelance journalist. She founded Btchcoin News, a financial and economics newsletter, and has written for a variety of publications including The Atlantic, the New Yorker, and The Globe and Mail.