Millennials Lag Behind Previous Generations in Starting Businesses
SCORE, the nation’s largest network of volunteer, expert business mentors, has gathered statistics on millennial entrepreneurs, or “millennipreneurs.”
Millennials (individuals born between 1982 and 2000) lag behind previous generations in starting businesses, with only 4% reporting self-employment at age 30, compared to 5.3% of Gen-Xers and 6.8% of Baby Boomers.
These lower numbers could be attributed to finances. 42% of millennials say they lack the financial means to start a business.
- 81% of college-educated millennials have at least one source of debt.
- 30% have more than one source of debt.
Millennials want to start their own businesses for a variety of reasons:
- 40% want to be their own bosses.
- 21% want to feel passion for their job.
- 21% desire flexibility in time/location.
- 6% seek challenge and growth.
- 5% were laid off from a prior job.
Millennials admire entrepreneurship:
- 78% consider entrepreneurs successful.
- 62% have thought about starting a business.
- 55% believe that their generation is more entrepreneurial than past ones, even though the data suggests otherwise.
Millennials plan for the future – and look forward to it:
- 35% of millennial entrepreneurs have a formal business plan, compared to just 27% of older entrepreneurs.
- 42% have a cyber-attack plan, compared to just 13% of older entrepreneurs.
- 51% have a disaster recovery plan, compared to just 30% of older entrepreneurs.
- 77% are optimistic about the future, compared to just 51% of older entrepreneurs.
Download this infographic for more information on millennial entrepreneurs. Regardless of age, all entrepreneurs can take advantage of SCORE’s free small business mentoring and educational resources.
About SCORE
Since 1964, SCORE has helped more than 10 million aspiring entrepreneurs. Each year, SCORE’s 10,000+ volunteer business experts provide 350,000+ free small business mentoring sessions, workshops and educational services to clients in 300+ chapters nationwide. In 2016, SCORE volunteers provided 2.2+ million hours to help create more than 45,000 jobs and 65,000 small businesses.
For more information about starting or operating a small business, visit SCORE at www.score.org. Follow @SCOREMentors on Facebook and Twitter for the latest small business news and updates.
