‘This Month’ Startup Intent Reaches All-Time High in December Startup Sentiment Index™
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January 6, 2021 – Entrepreneurs are increasingly optimistic about starting their businesses, with the expressed intent to start “this month” rising again to a new high of 24.1% in the December survey. Startups planned for “6-12 months out” reached the highest levels since February 2020, at 22.6% of respondents in the FranchiseInsights.com Small Business Startup Sentiment Index™ (SSI) of individuals who have recently inquired about businesses for sale.
The most recent survey was collected December 17-24, 2020, following news of the first vaccinations in the US on Monday, December 14, and the first shipments of the Moderna vaccine on Sunday, December 20. With much speculation about the timelines of significant percentages of the US population being vaccinated, aspiring business owners made their plans.
Additional highlights:
- Future business conditions: Respondents were optimistic, though seeing things getting a bit worse before getting better. Almost 43% of respondents believe that in three months, business conditions will be “better” or “much better” than now, down from 48.3% last month.
- Access to funding: Entrepreneurs’ concerns are finally abating, with the percentage seeing funding “harder or much harder” to obtain dropping from 34.3% in November to 29.2% in December, the lowest reading since March 2020.
- Demographics: 49.5% are currently employed full-time, and 17.7% are current business owners. While Gen-X (38.9%) and Gen-Y (31.1%) accounted for the highest percentage of survey respondents, “Baby Boomers” surged from 11.8% to 24.6% of respondents.
The Small Business Startup Sentiment Index™ is derived from a monthly survey of individuals who have recently inquired about businesses or franchises for sale on the digital assets of FranchiseVentures, and measures business-buyer sentiment on more than a dozen factors.
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, January 6th, 2021.