The Kauffman Foundation sponsors the Startup Confidence Index in conjunction with LegalZoom, the nation's leading provider of online legal document services and legal plans to young companies. The findings are based on responses to a nationwide survey distributed via email to LegalZoom clients who formed their entities within the last twelve months.
Consistent with other recent Kauffman Foundation research, the majority of the survey respondents – 69 percent — are over age 40. Forty-three percent of them are 50 or older. Nearly 60 percent of respondents indicate that they operate their businesses from their homes.
The Startup Confidence Index is a series, conducted quarterly to gauge entrepreneurial confidence.
Q1 2013 Index
Early-stage business owners’ confidence is climbing, according to the first-quarter 2013 Kauffman/LegalZoom Startup Confidence Index.
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Q4 2012 Index
While a majority of startup business owners do not believe the economy will grow in the next 12 months, 83 percent are nonetheless confident that their own profits will, according to the fourth-quarter Kauffman/LegalZoom Startup Confidence Index.
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Q3 2012 Index
Entrepreneurs' expectations for the U.S. economy declined overall, but there is a significant optimism gap between older entrepreneurs and those between the ages of 18 and 40, according to the third-quarter Kauffman/LegalZoom Startup Confidence Index.
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Q2 2012 Index
Despite remaining generally confident about the prognosis for their own businesses, startup company owners sent mixed signals about their overall economic outlook for the next 12 months, according to the 2012 second quarter Kauffman/LegalZoom Startup Confidence Index.
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Q1 2012 Index
Owners of startup companies were surprisingly optimistic about 2012, according to the first Kauffman/LegalZoom Startup Confidence Index. More than one-fourth of the respondents said they plan to hire additional staff in 2012, and twice as many of them expect the economy to improve or stay the same (68 percent) as those who expect it to deteriorate (31 percent).
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