March 2003

New Business

Start-up businesses fail less often

3/1/2003 -

If the widely held belief that 90% of businesses fail in their first year has kept you from starting a business, here's good news. A recent study by the Small Business Administration found that the failure rate is closer to 67%. The SBA examined 12,185 companies and found that 17% were incorrectly counted among first-year failures. Businesses in this group actually were successful, and the owners either retired or sold them within the first year.

The study comes at a crucial time. In 2002 the ranks of the self-employed hit a 50-year low. This new study may encourage small business startups, and that could help to fuel job growth in the U.S.