Two Thirds of Franchise Prospects Say AI Impacts Their Interest in Business Ownership
By: Michael Alston for Franchise Insights
April 1, 2026 – The 2026 Franchise Development Lead Generation Survey showed that more than 88% of franchise brands surveyed will be using at least one AI tool for lead generation by the end of 2026. But what are prospects themselves thinking will be the impact of artificial intelligence on their path to business ownership?
The Franchise Insights Small Business Startup Sentiment Index™ (SSI) survey completed the last week in March revealed that two thirds of respondents believe AI will have an impact on their interest in business ownership (34% said there would be “no impact”).
When answering the question “how do advances in artificial intelligence impact your interest in business ownership?,” thirty percent of respondents say that it “make(s) me favor businesses that would be less likely to be displaced by AI.”
Accordingly, 26% say that it “boosts my desire to control my own destiny rather than losing my current occupation to AIs that would be less likely to be displaced by AI.”
Further, 24% desire to “find a business enhanced or enabled by AI.”
66% of prospects surveyed said that advances in artificial intelligence are having an impact on their interest in business ownership.
There were 12% of respondents who say that advances in AI “reduced the amount of capital” they have to invest, presumably due to recent stock market reassessments of valuation premiums for companies perceived to be impacted by AI. Further, some of the respondents could have already experienced or may anticipate employment or earnings loss due to AI.
With widespread consumer usage of AI chatbots, only 34% of respondents say that AI will have “no impact” on their interest in owning a business.
Finally, 6% of respondents say they’ve extended their timelines for pursuing business ownership to see how things unfold.
Among those indicating an “other” response, some said the impact is yet “unknown”, and one individual reported that they had already lost employment due to AI.
Only 6% said that advances in artificial intelligence were making them delay pursuing a business until they see how things unfold.
FranchiseInsights.com surveys franchisors and prospects interested in business ownership periodically to get a pulse on the industry, provide benchmarking and identify franchise development best practices.
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 March 26-31, 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.
Interested in more insights from our proprietary data set? Subscribe here to make sure you hear about them first.
Contact Franchise Ventures to get your share of today’s aspiring franchise owners.
Published on Wednesday, April 1st, 2026.