Aspiring Franchisees Still Upbeat, But Fewer Exuberant about Conditions Three to Six Months Out

By: Michael Alston for Franchise Insights

May 1, 2024 – With 88% of franchise seekers planning their business startups within twelve months, it is no surprise that 63% either agree or strongly agree that “now is a good time to start a business.” In the April survey,  over 77% of respondents see conditions for business and franchise startups “the same or better in three months.” 

88% Say They Plan Their Startups for Within the Next Twelve Months

Of this month’s respondents, 60.2% of entrepreneurs planned their startups within the next three months, up from 47.6% last month. Over 60% of entrepreneurs surveyed say they are “more or much more likely to launch their startups than three months ago.”

FranchiseInsights.com compiles monthly the Small Business Startup Sentiment Index™ (SSI) of individuals who have recently inquired about businesses for sale. The most recent Startup Sentiment Index™ survey was conducted March 21-30, 2024. 

Baby Boomers and Gen-Z Rise in Share of Pool

Additional highlights:

• Future business conditions: Reversing a multi-year downtrend in sentiment about future business conditions, over 77% of respondents see conditions no worse – staying the same or getting better in three months– with 57.8% seeing conditions “about the same” as now, which they view as good. This month, however, 22.9% see conditions getting worse, up from 10.7% in March.
• Access to funding: The percentage of entrepreneurs concerned about finding  adequate funding dropped to 62.7%, and those who see funding “harder or much harder” to obtain in the next three months grew to 37.3% of respondents.
• Demographics: About 49.4%% of respondents were currently employed full-time, and 15.7% were current business owners seeking an additional or replacement business. Freelancers and consultants were 20.5%, followed by part-timers at 14.5%. The Gen-X cohort dominated with 43.2% of respondents, and Millennials were 23%. Baby Boomers jumped to 27% of respondents. This month, Gen-Z made up 6.8% of respondents.

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, May 1st, 2024.