Strong Showings by Baby Boomers and Current Business Owners in June Startup Sentiment Survey

July 9, 2025 – For three months, the percentage of entrepreneurs planning their startups within the coming year has reached or exceeded 87%, continuing an uptrend seen since 2023. Of this month’s respondents, 49.3% of entrepreneurs planned their startups within the next three months, down from a recent high of 64.3% in the April survey. Additionally, 71.6% plan their launches for within the next six months.  

In the June 2025 Small Business Startup Sentiment Index™ survey, 76.1% of respondents said they are “more or much more likely to launch their startups than three months ago,” similar to  the 75.9% for the same measure in the prior month. 

Surveys in the last week of June 2025 showed 62.7% of persons exploring ownership agree or strongly agreed that “now is a good time for startup”, following the 84.5% record set in March.  In this month’s survey, 88.1% of respondents see conditions for business and franchise startups “the same or better in three months.” 

In late June 2025, 88.1% of respondents said they see startup conditions “the same or better in three months”.

This trend in business startup sentiment correlates with the surge in business applications we have noted in recent months. Measures of consumer confidence are less sanguine, however, with the Conference Board showing a dip from the prior month and the University of Michigan survey showing a bounce in June after a sharp drop in May. 

Boomers edged out Millennials among survey respondents in June, and current business owners represented 23.9%.

Additional highlights:

• Future business conditions: Despite the uncertainty of tariff effects and policy changes ahead, 88.1% of respondents to the latest Startup Sentiment Survey see conditions no worse – staying the same or getting better – in three months. Similarly, only 11.9% of respondents  see conditions getting “worse or much worse” in three months.
• Access to funding: 70.1% of entrepreneurs were concerned about finding adequate funding (the top concern), and those who see funding “harder or much harder” to obtain in the next three months dipped to 23.9% of respondents. “Political changes” placed third behind “Economic climate,” while “regulatory changes” tied with “Stock Market” for fourth in June.
• Current Employment: Of these survey  respondents, 44.8% are currently employed full-time, below the record 61.7% for this survey in June 2024. Another 23.9% of respondents were current business owners seeking an additional or replacement business, the second highest percentage ever seen (vs. 25.5% in July 2021). Freelancers and consultants were 19.4%, part-timers were 11.9%, and less than 1% were active military..
• Age Cohorts: Gen-X remains the largest share, at 48.3% of respondents, down from the record 63.9% seen in June 2024. Boomers had a strong showing at 33.3%, surpassing 13.3% for the Gen-Y (Millennials) who are the largest cohort in the adult population, but not at the peak age for business ownership. Gen-Z were 1.7% of respondents, below the 3.9% average for 2024. Less than 1% were from the “Silent Generation”, born before 1946.

Recently we wrote about franchise-seekers who are business owners, and the types of enterprises they already own.

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 June 23-30, 2025.

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 Tuesday, July 8th, 2025.