WELLESLEY, Mass. – Americans are more optimistic than ever about starting a business, according to the latest Global Entrepreneurship Monitor from Babson College and the London School of Business. The survey showed 47% of respondents perceived good opportunities for starting a business in 2013, the highest level reported since the report began in 1999.
Not surprisingly, optimism is up sharply since the start of the recession – only 28% saw good opportunities in 2009. The 15th annual GEM surveyed 5,698 working-age adults in the U.S. last year, and found nearly 13% were in the process of starting or running a new business. That was the higher entrepreneurial rate among 25 developed economies studied.
Other highlights released this month found:
- Nearly 13 percent of the U.S. population (an estimated 25 million Americans) were in the process of starting or running a new business.
- More than one-third say they offer innovative products or services to new customers with few competitors.
- 37 percent expect to employ six or more employees in the next five years.
- One out of 10 women in the U.S. is starting or running a new business, and established female business owners ranked their happiness and well-being more than twice as high as non-entrepreneurs and non-business owners.
- The U.S. has the highest rate of entrepreneurship among 55- to 64-year-olds in the 25 developed economies surveyed. They are equally likely as younger Americans to see entrepreneurial opportunities and are less risk averse – more than half rank in the top third of household income.
Learn more from the news release and the full report.