Small Business Startup Sentiment Rebounds

By: Michael Alston for Franchise Insights

March 11, 2026 – Startup sentiment rebounded in February 2026 surveys as business buyer surveys showed 58.1% of persons exploring ownership agree or strongly agree that “now is a good time for startup”, up from 30% in December. 

This increase in sentiment about business conditions is consistent with a modest February increase in consumer confidence and revised January  Conference Board survey readings.

Back in January 2026, half (50%) of respondents “neither agreed nor disagreed” with the statement “now is a good time for starting a business”, but they were more confident in February, with less than 5% saying they “disagreed” or “strongly disagreed” with the positive sentiment.

Concurrently, 58.1% of respondents say they are more likely to start a business now than three months ago.

With respect to future conditions, 51.2% f respondents to the monthly sentiment survey see business conditions “about the same” in three months, with another 37.2% seeing them “better” or “much better” in three months.

Over 88% of aspiring franchisees see business conditions the same or better three months ahead. 

Of this month’s respondents, 46.2% planned their startups within the next three months, and 61.5% expected their launches within the next six months.  The percentage of entrepreneurs planning their startups within the coming year stood at 75.8%.

In the February 2026 Small Business Startup Sentiment Index™ survey, 58.1% of respondents said they are “more or much more likely to launch their startups than three months ago,” up from 55.6% in December, but off the recent high of 73.2% in November.

Additional Survey highlights:

• Future business conditions: Despite the uncertainty of tariff effects and policy changes ahead, 88.4% of respondents see conditions no worse – staying the same or getting better – in three months. Accordingly, only 11.6% of respondents are worried that conditions will be “worse or much worse” in three months.
• Access to funding: 65.1% of entrepreneurs were concerned about finding adequate funding (the top concern), down from 78.9% in January 2026. On the other hand, those who see funding “harder or much harder” to obtain in the next three months were 25.6% of the total, down from January’s 38.9% of respondents. “Economic climate” was the second most common concern (27.9%), followed by “regulatory” at 14%. Concerns about “political changes” dropped to 7%.
• Current Employment: Of these survey respondents, 34.9% are currently employed full-time. Another 7% of respondents were current business owners seeking an additional or replacement business. Freelancers and consultants were high this month at 41.9%, while part-timers were also at 16.3%, and less than 1% were active military.
• Age Cohorts: Gen-X remains the largest share, at 42.5% of respondents, down from the record 63.9% seen in June 2024. Boomers were 17.5% of respondents, but below the 32.5% who were Gen-Y (Millennials), the largest cohort in the adult population, but years away from the peak age for business ownership. Gen-Z were 5%, and the “Silent Generation” was 2.5% of respondents.

The FranchiseInsights.com Small Business Startup Sentiment Index™ (SSI) is based on a monthly survey of individuals who have recently inquired about businesses or franchises for sale on the Franchise Ventures lead generation platform. This survey was conducted February 21-28, 2026.

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, March 11th, 2026.