These days, with the economy improving and many smaller companies doing better financially than they were just a few years ago, some entrepreneurs might see this as the perfect time to start their own businesses. However, there still remain a significant number of issues that hold many back from doing so.
When people across the country want to become small business owners, there are many things they must consider, and a lot of those issues might actually prevent them from starting their companies, despite the fact that they may have good ideas, according to a report from USA Today. Today, nearly three in five Americans say they’ve had at least one idea for a new business in their lives, but only about 40 percent have ever even explored their options in this regard.
The biggest issue – an understandable one – was reported by about two in three prospective entrepreneurs: a lack of funding for their companies, the report said. But about half also said they didn’t get started because they didn’t know where or how to do it. About one in five also reported issues related to the perception that their planned ideas wouldn’t be good enough to succeed, that they didn’t have enough time to devote to the potential firm, or that they were afraid of failing.
“Americans think about quitting their jobs twice a week,” said David Rusenko, chief executive and co-founder of the web startup Weebly, which commissioned the survey. “A lot of people have business ideas. … They don’t recognize that many of the barriers are no longer there.”
Demographic issues?
Interestingly, Hispanic or African-American consumers are more likely to start their own companies than Caucasians (64 and 60 percent to 53 percent, respectively), the report said. Meanwhile, four out of five women say they’re too afraid to fail, compared with just two in three men. Further, half of people living in the Western U.S. had made the effort to start a company, versus one in three in the Midwest, and two in five in both the South and Northeast.
Prospective owners who worry about having the money to start a new company may want to consider the ways in which they can keep their costs down, such as by finding the most affordable small business insurance. Doing so may help them avoid paying thousands of dollars more than they need to for commercial insurance, for example.
