Entrepreneurship Statistics: Key Numbers in 2024

Entrepreneurship is a way of thinking, a life calling of determined individuals who are not afraid to take chances in today’s turbulent economy. Despite the risks involved, there is something unique about it.

It offers entrepreneurs the autonomy to conceptualize, launch, and lead their next big business venture. Small businesses require resilience and entrepreneurs are people who face many challenges on their odyssey to become agents of change. Our list of entrepreneurship statistics below can definitely lend a helping hand in this pursuit. Take a look!

Top Entrepreneurship Stats: Editor’s Choice

  • 55% of people start a business because they want to be professionally independent.
  • Personal funds are the main source of funding for 77% of entrepreneurs.
  • Entrepreneurs work 52 hours a week. 
  • 48% of entrepreneurs are happy.
  • 25% of entrepreneurs are struggling to find qualified employees. 
  • The average startup capital is $10,000.
  • The median income of an entrepreneur is $59,000.
  • Female entrepreneurs own 9.9 million small businesses in the US.
  • A staggering 99.9% of the millions of companies in America are small businesses. 
  • 83.1% of business owners started their companies from scratch. 

Key Entrepreneurship Facts

1. 55% of people start a business because they want to be professionally independent.

The number one reason why people decide to start their own business is to take charge of their professional life. More than half of respondents in a recent Small Business Trends Alliance report seek independence while 39% say they want to dedicate their lives to pursuing their passion – starting their own business.

Entrepreneurship data also reveal that 25% become entrepreneurs because the opportunity presented itself, and another 25% did it because they were displeased with corporate America.

2. Personal funds are the main source of funding for 77% of entrepreneurs. 

Entrepreneur statistics reveal that a high number of entrepreneurs rely on their personal funds to make their enterprise work. One-third or 34% are supported by bank loans, 16% borrow money from their family, and 11% rely on other sources. 

3. Failure rates for businesses have been declining for years. 

Despite the recent controversies related to small enterprises, one thing remains certain: since 1977, the rate at which businesses go under has dropped by 30%, as entrepreneur stats show.

This is mainly due to how small companies work now and the fact that the industry is more diversified to include all sectors, not just construction where the failure rates are traditionally high. 

4. In New Zealand, it takes just one day to start a business.

Small enterprises are born every day and procedure-wise, New Zealand leads the way. According to entrepreneurial statistics, it takes a day to set up a business in this country. Canada also has effortless startup processes for potential entrepreneurs – two days only with no delays, while Australia does it in three. In the UK, this process takes five days while in the US it takes up to six days. 

5. Over half of the companies are started at home. 

In an effort to avoid rent costs and fuel more funds into their business, entrepreneurs generally do not start their business by renting office space. One of the little-known entrepreneurship facts is that companies such as Amazon, Microsoft, and Google were initially nested in a basement or garage. A total of 51.6% of enterprises are ‘homegrown’, and 60.1% of firms without employees are home-based. 

6. Business Services and Retail are the top industries for small businesses. 

Among the industries best suited for small businesses, Business Services and Retail lead the way with 13% rates each, as entrepreneurship stats indicate. Universally known as a small venture, the Construction and Contracting industry ranks second with 12%, followed by the Food and Restaurant industry (9%), and Residential and Commercial Services (9%). 

Important Statistics on Entrepreneurs

7. The majority of entrepreneurs do not have a college degree. 

Contrary to popular belief, you don’t need a university or college degree to be successful in life. 31% of entrepreneurs have managed to turn their dream into reality with an associate degree alone. 30% have done it with a high school degree, including Bill Gates. The percentage of entrepreneurs with completed BA, MA, or Ph.D. studies is 39%, according to entrepreneurs facts.

8. Entrepreneurs with previous experience in the industry are 125% more successful. 

Education per se might not play a crucial role in entrepreneurship but professional wisdom does.

The entrepreneurship success rate is higher for entrepreneurs who had previously worked in job positions in their industry. This is because they have already established connections and have developed the skills needed to offer more value to clients.

9. Entrepreneurs work 52 hours а week. 

Statistics about entrepreneurs confirm the majority of micro-business owners tend to work long hours. This means that some of them miss out on important family celebrations or events for the sake of their business.

A total of 63% of entrepreneurs work longer than the average employee although many believe that working the standard 40 hours per week could be more productive. 

10. 48% of entrepreneurs are happy.

When it comes to workplace happiness, small business owners are generally satisfied with their workplace. And why shouldn’t they be? They are the kings of their own castles. Entrepreneurs statistics portray almost half of owners as happy, 28% as somewhat happy, and 10% as neither happy nor unhappy. The percentage of displeased entrepreneurs is as low as 13%. 

More Statistics about Entrepreneurship

11. The average small business loan backed by SBA is $107,000.

Loans for small business ventures are more accessible. The US-based Small Businesses Administration offers support in the amount of an average of $107,000 worth of loans. For middle-term loans, the support is around $110,000, and for short-term loans, it is $20,000. The good news is that if you are in need of equipment, loans cover 100% of the value of the equipment. 

12. 59% of small-business owners use loans for business expansion.

All businesses, no matter the size, need loans. Entrepreneurship growth statistics show that more than half of entrepreneurs require money to grow their businesses. In addition, 43% need funding to cover operating costs, while 26% intend to use the money to refinance existing loans. 

13. 25% of entrepreneurs are struggling to find qualified employees. 

Apparently, the war for talent is not only raging on the corporate front. A quarter of entrepreneurs cannot find skilled staff, while 39% report they have job positions which they cannot fill. Based on entrepreneurial statistics, 35% of the job openings seek qualified or skilled staff, while 15% are for employees without any specific skills. 

14. 70% of entrepreneurs use their personal funds to handle financial difficulties. 

Even though there is an abundance of funding for micro and small enterprises, a total of 67% of owners use their own money to manage potential financial difficulties. 39% of entrepreneurs don’t mind getting a loan to deal with a critical financial issue, while 33% decide to cut staff or downsize operations to overcome financial difficulties.

What causes concern though is entrepreneurship statistics suggesting that 28% of them simply ignore their obligations. 

15. 68% of small firms have outstanding debt. 

Entrepreneurship can be a slippery business. A great majority of small firms are in debt. 55% owe less than $100,000, while 37% owe between $100k and $1 million. Entrepreneur data also reveals that 9% of owners have an outstanding debt higher than $1 million. 

16. The average startup capital is $10,000.

A recent survey showed that 64% of small enterprises started off with a $10,000 capital. Another survey points out that 58% of entrepreneurs launched their business with no more than $25,000. Student entrepreneur statistics, in contrast, refer to minimal ventures for business owners with student debts. 

17. 98.6% of manufacturing companies are small enterprises. 

Most manufacturing companies in the US are led by entrepreneurs, and 75% of them employ up to 20 persons. An interesting observation here is that 11.6% of the economic output and 8.5% of the labor force were produced by the manufacturing sector.

The best indicator for entrepreneurship success, however, is that this sector contributed $2.38 trillion to the national economy in 2018.

18. The median income of an entrepreneur is $59,000.

Entrepreneur income statistics reveal that entrepreneurs are doing pretty well wage-wise, with an annual median wage higher than the US average. Furthermore, 40% of small enterprises are profitable, one-third break-even, and another 30% lose money all the time. 

19. Female entrepreneurs own 9.9 million small businesses in the US.

In the entrepreneurial space, women do operate as leaders. They are not exactly rubbing shoulders with men who own 14.8 million small enterprises, but they are represented with a solid 33.4%.

For every 100 working-age females, there are around 8 small enterprises owned by women, as female entrepreneurship statistics show. A great booster for these women-led enterprises is that recently there has been a significant increase in grants supporting female entrepreneurship in the US. 

20. 49% of entrepreneurs handle marketing on their own.

One of the most challenging issues for entrepreneurs is marketing. Entrepreneurs are people who have one clear objective in marketing – to drive sales.

More than half (55%) are certain that their marketing efforts are effective, while 33% say they don’t know. For another 22%, it is hard to find the time and resources for marketing and out of those who do find the time, 49% use social media. 

21. Eight out of ten small businesses survive the first year. 

According to US entrepreneurship statistics, an incredible 79.9% of small enterprises survive their first year. The survival rate of roughly half of all startups in their first five years is at a satisfactory level, and around one-third survive for at least 10 years or longer. 

22. Successful business starters have a 30% success rate in their next endeavors. 

The entrepreneur success rate can make you or break you, but so can the entrepreneur failure rate. A recent study shows that people who were successful in starting a business the first time around have 30% higher chances of being successful the second time.

Ironically, entrepreneurship statistics reveal that in comparison to first-time successful entrepreneurs, failures have a 20% higher probability of succeeding. Crazy, right? It appears experience does have its rewards.

What Percentage of US Citizens Are Entrepreneurs?

23. A staggering 99.9% of the millions of firms in America are small businesses. 

There are approximately 30.2 million small businesses in the US and an additional half a million are being started every month, meaning entrepreneurship in America is booming. These small businesses provide jobs to 58.9 million employees. On an annual basis, around 2 million new jobs are opened and, last but not least, 47.5% of the entire US workforce is occupied in small enterprises, as US entrepreneurship statistics

24. Baby Boomers and Generation X are at the entrepreneurial steering wheel.

Entrepreneur demographics show the majority of entrepreneurs in the US are older than 50 i.e. 44% belong to Generation X, while 41% are baby boomers. Millennials, on the other, account for 12% of the entrepreneurship army, as shown by entrepreneur facts.

25. 15 million Americans are their own bosses. 

The number of entrepreneurs in the US is around 15 million with a tendency to rise even higher. Moreover, according to estimates, by the end of 2020, a whopping 27 million Americans will leave their full-time jobs to become full-time self-employed.

26. 83.1% of business owners started their companies from scratch. 

Facts about entrepreneurs specify that most business owners started their operations from scratch. In contrast, the percentage of entrepreneurs who purchased their business is significantly lower at 11.3%, while 4.4% received their business as a present or via transfer of ownership.

27. The Global Entrepreneurship & Development Index is the highest in the US. 

The GEDI index is highest in America at 86.80, ranking the country at the top position for supporting entrepreneurship, according to entrepreneurship statistics. This index is based on factors such as social and economic infrastructures that nourish environments to cultivate entrepreneurship. Switzerland is ranked second followed by Canada, Denmark, and the UK. 

28. 33% of average Americans are hopeful about the political climate.

Americans seem to have confidence in the political climate of the country and believe it is satisfactory when it comes to entrepreneurial ventures. Entrepreneur statistics indicate one-third of US entrepreneurs feel confident about the political climate in the country. A firm 27% are very confident, 21% are neutral, and 19% are not very confident. 

29. More than half of American billionaires are self-made. 

America’s billionaires earned their fortunes on their own, or at least 62% of them. Interestingly, almost all of them started off as entrepreneurs. Research further indicates that 18% of billionaires in the US acquired their status based on their own hard work but with a little bit of help from inheritance. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Why do entrepreneurs fail?

Many entrepreneurs have grand expectations, others cannot find the right kind of funding, some partner up badly, a few are not using marketing wisely but the majority fail because they are not business smart. They may understand their idea but not how the market will see it. They simply fail to see how out of control and unpredictable innovation really is.

What are the 7 characteristics of entrepreneurs?

Entrepreneurs seem to possess a special set of skills or rather, a bit of genius and a lot of perseverance with a pinch of pure luck. Here are some of the adjectives that best describe successful entrepreneurs:

  • Self-motivated
  • Passionate
  • Hard-working
  • Resourceful
  • Positive
  • Confident
  • Tenacious

What are the 4 types of entrepreneurship?

  • Small Business Entrepreneurship (describes anyone who runs their own business);
  • Scalable Startup Entrepreneurship (referring to Silicon Valley and venture investors);
  • Large Company Entrepreneurship (focused on sustaining innovation, offering new products that are variations of their core products);
  • Social Entrepreneurship (focus on making the world a better place and can be nonprofit, for-profit, or hybrid).

Conclusion

Entrepreneurship entails freedom, purpose, flexibility, and, above all, legacy. Yet, it is also a career choice filled with detours, some of which, if not handled promptly, could result in failure. Entrepreneurship statistics provide compelling evidence that throughout history entrepreneurs have been the doers, the believers, and the game-changers. They are the people who understand that life is simply too short to be chasing someone else’s dream. 

Sources

Guidant FinancialFinancesOnlineEntrepreneurFitSmallBusinessMITSloanAll Top StartupsFunderaFederal Reserve BanksStartBloxKeapSBAIncKnoemaWealthX