Small Business Startup Sentiment Rebounds for Second Month

By: Michael Alston for Franchise Insights

March 8, 2026 – Startup sentiment rebounded for the second consecutive month in March 2026 surveys as business buyer surveys showed that 64.0% of persons exploring ownership agree or strongly agree that “now is a good time for startup”, up from a recent low of 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.

Similarly, 58.0% of respondents say they are more likely to start a business now than three months ago.

With respect to future conditions, 60.0% of respondents to the monthly sentiment survey see business conditions “about the same” in three months, with another 24.0% seeing them “better” or “much better” in three months.

This month, we learned that two thirds of prospects believe advances in artificial intelligence would impact their interest in starting businesses, and 30% say that it makes them more interested in businesses less likely to be impacted. Further, 26% say that it actually increases their desire to control their own destinies through business ownership.

Over 84% of aspiring franchisees see business conditions the same or better three months ahead.

Of this month’s respondents, 50.4% planned their startups within the next three months, and 66.4% expected their launches within the next six months. The percentage of entrepreneurs planning their startups within the coming year stood at 79.8%.

In the March 2026 Small Business Startup Sentiment Index™ survey, 58.0% of respondents said they are “more or much more likely to launch their startups than three months ago,” near the 58.1% in February, and 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, 84.0% of respondents see conditions no worse – staying the same or getting better – in three months. Accordingly, only 16.0% of respondents are worried that conditions will be “worse or much worse” in three months.
Access to funding: 68.0% 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 22.0% of the total, down from January’s 38.9% of respondents. “Economic climate” was the second most common concern (36.0%), followed by “tax law changes” at 14%. Concerns about “political changes” were only 8%.
Current Employment: Of these survey respondents, 38% are currently employed full-time. Another 12% of respondents were current business owners seeking an additional or replacement business. Freelancers and consultants were 30%, while part-timers were also at 18%, and 1% were active military.
Age Cohorts: Gen-X remains the largest share, at 53.2% of respondents, down from the record 63.9% seen in June 2024. Boomers were 21.4% of respondents, in a tie with the 21.3% 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 4.3%, and the “Silent Generation” was less than 1% of respondents.

Over 53% of respondents were Gen-X, historically at the prime age for starting a business.

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 25-31, 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.

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Published on Wednesday, April 8th, 2026.