Concerns about Funding and Access to Credit Are Finally Receding among Business Buyers

By: Michael Alston for Franchise Insights

October 2, 2024 – Fully two-thirds (65.6%) of aspiring business owners surveyed either agree or strongly agree that “now is a good time to start a business,” with optimism about conditions ahead. In the September 2024 survey, 92.7% of respondents see conditions for business and franchise startups “the same or better in three months.” 

Of this month’s respondents, 60.4% of entrepreneurs planned their startups within the next three months, up from 48.1% last month. Further, 62.5% of entrepreneurs surveyed say they are “more or much more likely to launch their startups than three months ago.” 

Concerns about funding and access to credit are at record lows, while worries about “political changes” remain elevated for the fifth consecutive month.

Additional highlights:

• Future business conditions: Reversing a pandemic-induced multi-year downtrend in sentiment about future business conditions, 92.7% of respondents (93.3% in August) see conditions no worse – staying the same or getting better in three months– with 51.0% seeing conditions “about the same” as now, which they view as good. This month only 7.3% see conditions getting worse or much worse..
• Access to funding: The percentage of entrepreneurs concerned about finding adequate funding dropped to 53.1%, and those who see funding “harder or much harder” to obtain in the next three months shrank to 16.7% of respondents. But “political changes” ranked third among concerns for September for now five months in a row, up from ranking fifth in April.
• Demographics: Of the survey respondents, 44.8% are currently employed full-time, down from the record 61.7% in June.  Another 19.8% of respondents were current business owners seeking an additional or replacement business. Freelancers and consultants were 21.9%, followed by part-timers at 12.5%. This month about 1% of the aspiring entrepreneurs in the survey were on active military duty. The Gen-X cohort was at 45.6% of respondents, down from the record 63.9% seen in June. Millennials were 24.4%, followed closely by Baby Boomers at 23.3%.Gen-Z were 6.7% of respondents.

Full-time workers and current business owners comprised 64.6% of respondents in September.

Download a copy of the latest FranchiseInsights.com Small Business Startup Sentiment 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 FranchiseVentures lead generation platform.

FranchiseVentures 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, October 2nd, 2024.