Aspiring Franchisees Leave the Pandemic Behind

By: Michael Alston for Franchise Insights

April 5, 2023 — In March 2023, 53.7% of entrepreneurs surveyed say they are “more likely to launch their startups than three months ago.” Further, 55.6% of survey respondents either agree or strongly agree that “now is a good time to start a business”, down slightly from the prior month, but significantly down from the record high of 76.9% in June 2021. 

One third of respondents now say that the pandemic has “no impact” on their plans, and a record low of 11% say they would “favor businesses that are resistant to that kind of thing.”

FranchiseInsights.com compiles monthly the Small Business Startup Sentiment Index™ (SSI) of individuals who have recently inquired about businesses for sale. The most recent Startup Sentiment Index™ survey was conducted March 23-30, 2023. 

While 25.9% see business conditions deteriorating in three months, 74.1% still see conditions for business startups “the same or better in three months.”  In March 2023, 50.0% of entrepreneurs planned their startups within the next three months, down from August’s recent high of 69.2%.

57.4% of respondents were currently employed full-time

Additional highlights:

• Future business conditions: While a plurality of respondents see conditions “about the same” in three months for startups (57.4%), the declining trend of those seeing future conditions better (now 25.9%) and increase in those seeing future conditions worse (20.8%) mirrors lower consumer confidence and portends possible recession in the U.S.
• Access to funding: The percentage of entrepreneurs concerned about finding  adequate funding stands at 63%, though those seeing funding “harder or much harder” to obtain in the next three months stood at 33.3%.
• Demographics: 57.4% of respondents were currently employed full-time, and 13% were current business owners seeking an additional business. The Gen-X cohort dominated with 50.9% of respondents, while Baby Boomers (29.1%) grew to second place, as Millennials came in third at 30.3% of respondents.

Download a copy of the March 2023 FranchiseInsights.com SSI report here. See excerpts from prior SSI™ surveys and subscribe to receive the Small Business Startup Sentiment Index™ monthly report when it is released.

The Small Business Startup Sentiment Index™ is based on a monthly survey of individuals who have recently inquired about businesses or franchises for sale on the digital assets of FranchiseVentures.

Franchise Ventures is the leading franchise lead-generation platform for potential franchisees to thousands of growing franchise systems in the United States and Canada. Its franchise lead generation brands include Franchise.com, Franchise Solutions, Franchise Gator, Franchise Opportunities, Franchise For Sale, SmallBusinessStartup.com and BusinessBroker.net, and together they provide the largest aggregation of prospective franchise buyers in the U.S.

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Published on Wednesday, April 5th, 2023.