Startup Sentiment Uptrend Continues

By: Michael Alston for Franchise Insights

September 2, 2026 – After three months of declining startup sentiment in the second quarter of 2026, August saw increasing optimism as 67.6% of persons exploring franchise ownership agree or strongly agree that “now is a good time for startup”, up from 65% in July.

This jump in optimism about business startup conditions comes as consumer confidence readings dipped in August Conference Board and University of Michigan surveys.

Further, 83.8% of this month’s respondents say they are more likely to start a business now than three months ago. So for reasons related to their own personal situations and calendars, they are more likely to move forward now than they were before summer began.

With respect to future conditions, 70.3% of respondents to the monthly sentiment survey see business conditions “about the same” in three months, with another 18.9% seeing them “better” or “much better” in three months.

In August, 89% of aspiring franchisees saw business conditions the same or better three months ahead.

The impact of AI is likely to be a topic of conversation with prospects. Of this month’s respondents, 68% of prospects say advances in artificial intelligence had some influence on their interest in starting businesses, and 38% say that it makes them more interested in businesses enhanced or enabled by AI. Further, 32% say that it actually boosts desire to control their own destinies through business ownership rather than lose their jobs to AI. But 32% say they favor businesses less likely to be displaced by AI (up from 18% in July).

When asked about timing, 48.9% of respondents planned their startups within the next three months, and 70.7% expected their launches within the next six months. The percentage of entrepreneurs planning their startups at some time within the next twelve months stood at 82.6%.

Additional Survey highlights:

Future business conditions: Despite war headlines and spiking oil prices, 89.2% of respondents see conditions no worse – staying the same or getting better – in three months. Accordingly, only 10.8% of respondents are worried that conditions will be “worse or much worse” in three months.
Access to funding: 70.3% of entrepreneurs were concerned about finding adequate funding (consistently the top concern), still below 78.9% in January 2026. Those who see funding “harder or much harder” to obtain in the next three months were 35.1% of the total. For the first time, “regulatory changes” was the second most common concern at 29.7% of respondents, and “tax law changes” at 21.6%. “Economic climate” dropped to 18.9%.
Current Employment: Of these respondents, 29.7% were currently employed full-time –a record low. Another 16% of respondents were current business owners seeking an additional or replacement business. Freelancers and consultants were 32.4%, while part-timers were at 21.6%, and less than 1% were active military.
Age Cohorts: Gen-X remains the largest share, at 52.9% of respondents, off the record 63.9% seen in June 2024. Boomers were 20.6% of respondents, topping the 17.6% who were Gen-Y (Millennials), the largest cohort in the adult population, but years away from the peak age for business ownership. Gen-Z came in at 2.9%, and the “Silent Generation” was less than 1% of respondents.

Now 68% of prospects say that advances in artificial intelligence had some impact on their interest in starting businesses.

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 August 23-31, 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, September 2nd, 2026.