Startup Sentiment Remains Positive, But Concerns Rise About Future Business Conditions

Over 74% of Aspiring Owners Intend to Start Businesses Within Six Months

Aspiring business owners have been optimistic through the course of the pandemic and recent economic concerns, but they perceive less favorable business conditions for startup three months out. Of aspiring business owners surveyed in June, 74.4% were resolute about starting their businesses within the coming six months. Currently, 65.2% of would-be entrepreneurs agree or strongly agree that “now is a good time to start a business,” down from 73.5% in February. But while 68.2% of these survey respondents see business conditions about the same or getting better in the next three months, 31.8% — the highest on record — see conditions getting worse, according to the monthly Small Business Startup Sentiment Index™ from FranchiseInsights.com.

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The most recent Startup Sentiment Index™ survey was conducted June 23-30, 2022.

Additional highlights:

• Future business conditions: More respondents see conditions worse for startups (31.8%) than better (29.5%) in three months compared to now.
• Access to funding: The percentage of entrepreneurs concerned about finding  adequate funding grew to 75.6%, with those seeing funding “harder or much harder” to obtain in the next three months eased slightly to 42.3%.
• Demographics: Forty-eight percent of respondents were currently employed full-time, and 17.3% were current business owners seeking an additional business. Gen-X (41.9%) and Gen-Y “Millennials” (32.4%) were the largest age cohorts, and “Baby Boomers” jumped to 22.8%, the highest percentage in 18 months. Gen-Z trailed at 2.9%.

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“Entrepreneurs are putting aside their concerns about conditions three months out,” says Hunter Stokes, president of FranchiseVentures. “Some may be seeing an opportunity to move ahead while others are cautious.”