Section 6 Business Characteristics: Prospective Owners
6.1 Introduction
This section presents the characteristics of businesses or future businesses for respondents who said they were in the beginning stages of starting a business or planning to open their own business in the next year. They are referred to as prospective owners throughout this report. Characteristics measured in this section include the stage of starting their business, their launch timetable, physical space needs and type of physical space needs, and the kind of industry their business is in.
Analyses to detect differences between respondents were conducted for the demographic variables of gender since that is the only disaggregating variable prospective owners got in the survey. We only show the results we are sure are real, not just by chance. However, some visual differences between the groups may be due to chance. Also, just because we do not see a difference between the two groups, it does not mean there is not a real difference. It means we do not have enough information to be sure.
6.2 Key Findings
- 88% of prospective business owners plan to launch their business within the next year or less.
- Retail (20%), arts-based (12%), and restaurant or food service businesses (10%) are the most common kinds of industries prospective owners’ businesses are in.
- The most common kinds of physical spaces prospective business owners anticipate needing over the next year are office (33%), studio (31%), maker or production space (26%), and warehousing/shipping/receiving space (26%).
6.2.1 Stage of Starting Business
Most prospective business owners are either in the ideas stage and considering what business or product they want to launch (42%) or have an idea but have yet to make concrete plans on how to launch it (32%). Only 26% of prospective business owners have an idea for a business or product and plan to launch it.
6.2.2 Launch Timetable
About 41% of prospective business owners that responded to the survey plan to open their business or launch their product within the year. Roughly 22% plan on launching or opening within six months, and 20% plan on launching or opening within the next three months. No statistically significant differences existed between opening their business or launching their product and their gender.
6.2.3 Physical Space Needs
6.2.3.1 Physical Space Needed
A slight majority of prospective business owner respondents have a physical space for their business (55%).
6.2.3.2 Type of Physical Space(s) Needed
The most common response on what kind of physical spaces prospective owners currently have or anticipate needing is office space (33%). The following most common physical areas respondents have or expect to need were studio (31%), maker or production space (26%), and warehousing/shipping/receiving (26%).