September 23, 2026 – Aspiring entrepreneurs preferred the option to “buy a franchise” over acquiring an existing business by a wide margin in recent months. While over 51.4% indicated interest in the franchise purchase option, only 40.5% were interested in buying an existing business for sale in the July and August 2026 Startup Sentiment surveys.
May 20, 2026 – Along with the rest of consumers, persons searching for businesses have now had more than two years of experience with Google’s AI Overviews along with chatbots and AI-enhanced browsers. How might this have changed the process of finding the right franchise and thereby franchise lead generation? There may be clues in the preferences of the general population for chat over traditional search.
April 22, 2026 – In the March 2026 Small Business Startup Sentiment survey, 58.5% of respondents cited Grit, or “persistence towards a goal despite obstacles” as a strength that emboldens them to pursue business ownership. Also, 55.4% also attested to their “willingness to follow a proven system”, an essential ingredient for succeeding at franchise ownership.
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”).
November 12, 2025 – Individuals seeking business ownership preferred the option to “buy a franchise” over acquiring an existing business by a wide margin in the October 2025 Startup Sentiment survey. While over 60.7% indicated interest in the franchise purchase option, only 41.8% were interested in buying an existing business for sale.
August 27, 2025 – After perusing among hundreds of options across multiple categories on franchise directory websites, most individuals narrow their focus and ultimately inquire about only one or two concepts. This franchise buyer behavior has been consistent over more than five years of customer journey analysis of websites and mobile apps.
August 20, 2025 – In the July 2025 Startup Sentiment survey, Grit, or “persistence towards a goal despite obstacles” was cited by 58.5% of respondents. In this survey of individuals seeking franchises, 55.4% also attested to their “willingness to follow a proven system”, an essential ingredient for succeeding at franchise ownership.
July 16, 2025 — With AI-induced changes to consumer behavior and the search marketing ecosystem, alternate channels of lead referrals become even more essential and valuable. Referred visits to your franchise development website yield informed prospects who demonstrate clear intent – they are aware of your offering, and want to learn more.
June 25, 2025 – In the span of surveying aspiring franchise owners for over five years, data show that about 15-20% of prospects already own at least one business. That percentage has varied month to month over this time span, but consistently represents a significant slice of aspiring candidates for franchise expansion.
January 23, 2024 – Since we last reported on the motivations of aspiring franchise owners in August 2024, interest rates have eased, and a contentious election was resolved. But the primary driver for those seeking business ownership has not changed.
November 13, 2024 — Almost 57% of franchise prospects in recent surveys attested to their “willingness to follow a proven system”, an essential ingredient for succeeding at franchise ownership. Grit, or “persistence towards a goal despite obstacles” was cited by over half (53.2%) of respondents, followed by “team leadership experience” at almost 40%.
October 30, 2024 – One consistent observation on franchise buyer behavior over almost five years of website journey analysis is how quickly researchers parse among many options to narrow their focus to a few for further inquiry. Most prospects only focus on a single concept when requesting information about franchises, despite the thousands of offerings across dozens of categories in the franchise directories of the Franchise Ventures lead generation platform.