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TryOwning · Start your own
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Start your own · 13 min

Is this business right for me?

Before the lease, the loan or the logo: an honest look at what this kind of business takes, and what you'd bring to it.

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Ticket 01 · The guessTable 1

Make a guess first

Think of every US business with at least one paid employee. What share of them started with less than $25,000census.gov ·2017?

60%
0%100%
Words to know

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Tell us what looks off. No name or email needed.

What kind of problem?

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Sources and every number (5 sources)

Sources

  • 2018 Annual Business Survey, Characteristics of Businesses: Amount of start-up or acquisition capital, by sector (employer firms, table AB1700CSCB01) · U.S. Census Bureau, 2017
  • 2018 Annual Business Survey, Characteristics of Businesses: Source(s) of start-up or acquisition capital, and business profitability, by sector (employer firms, table AB1700CSCB01) · U.S. Census Bureau, 2017
  • Business Employment Dynamics: Establishment age and survival data, Table 7, Survival of private sector establishments by opening year (total private and by industry, through March 2025) · U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2025
  • Market research and competitive analysis · U.S. Small Business Administration, 2026
  • Calculate your startup costs · U.S. Small Business Administration, 2026

Every number

  • $25,000census.gov ·2017 · One of the survey's own lines: started with less than this much.
  • $100,000census.gov ·2017 · One of the survey's own lines: started with this much or more.
  • 35%census.gov ·2017 · Share of all businesses that started with less than twenty-five thousand dollars. Worked out: the survey's three smallest bands added up (less than five thousand, five to ten thousand, ten to twenty-five thousand dollars). Census Bureau's Annual Business Survey (2018 edition, about 2017): businesses with paid employees that answered.
  • 17.2%census.gov ·2017 · Share of all businesses that started with a hundred thousand dollars or more. Worked out: the survey's four biggest bands added up (from a hundred thousand dollars up). Census Bureau's Annual Business Survey (2018 edition, about 2017): businesses with paid employees that answered.
  • 20.5%census.gov ·2017 · Share of all businesses that said they didn't know how much they started with. Census Bureau's Annual Business Survey (2018 edition, about 2017): businesses with paid employees that answered.
  • 66.5%census.gov ·2017 · Share of all businesses that said they made a profit in 2017. Census Bureau's Annual Business Survey (2018 edition, about 2017): businesses with paid employees that answered.
  • 50.2%bls.gov ·2025 · Share of all private business locations that opened in the year to March 2015 and were still open in March 2020. Private businesses with employees, from the BLS survival tables.
  • 15.3%census.gov ·2017 · Share of restaurant, café, bar and hotel businesses that started with less than twenty-five thousand dollars. Worked out: the survey's three smallest bands added up (less than five thousand, five to ten thousand, ten to twenty-five thousand dollars). Census Bureau's Annual Business Survey (2018 edition, about 2017): businesses with paid employees that answered.
  • 34%census.gov ·2017 · Share of restaurant, café, bar and hotel businesses that started with a hundred thousand dollars or more. Worked out: the survey's four biggest bands added up (from a hundred thousand dollars up). Census Bureau's Annual Business Survey (2018 edition, about 2017): businesses with paid employees that answered.
  • 24.5%census.gov ·2017 · Share of shops and online stores (retail) that started with less than twenty-five thousand dollars. Worked out: the survey's three smallest bands added up (less than five thousand, five to ten thousand, ten to twenty-five thousand dollars). Census Bureau's Annual Business Survey (2018 edition, about 2017): businesses with paid employees that answered.
  • 24.4%census.gov ·2017 · Share of shops and online stores (retail) that started with a hundred thousand dollars or more. Worked out: the survey's four biggest bands added up (from a hundred thousand dollars up). Census Bureau's Annual Business Survey (2018 edition, about 2017): businesses with paid employees that answered.
  • 33.9%census.gov ·2017 · Share of salons, repair shops and other service businesses that started with less than twenty-five thousand dollars. Worked out: the survey's three smallest bands added up (less than five thousand, five to ten thousand, ten to twenty-five thousand dollars). Census Bureau's Annual Business Survey (2018 edition, about 2017): businesses with paid employees that answered.
  • 17.1%census.gov ·2017 · Share of salons, repair shops and other service businesses that started with a hundred thousand dollars or more. Worked out: the survey's four biggest bands added up (from a hundred thousand dollars up). Census Bureau's Annual Business Survey (2018 edition, about 2017): businesses with paid employees that answered.
  • 45.9%census.gov ·2017 · Share of construction businesses that started with less than twenty-five thousand dollars. Worked out: the survey's three smallest bands added up (less than five thousand, five to ten thousand, ten to twenty-five thousand dollars). Census Bureau's Annual Business Survey (2018 edition, about 2017): businesses with paid employees that answered.
  • 7.9%census.gov ·2017 · Share of construction businesses that started with a hundred thousand dollars or more. Worked out: the survey's four biggest bands added up (from a hundred thousand dollars up). Census Bureau's Annual Business Survey (2018 edition, about 2017): businesses with paid employees that answered.
  • 49.8%census.gov ·2017 · Share of consulting and other professional service businesses that started with less than twenty-five thousand dollars. Worked out: the survey's three smallest bands added up (less than five thousand, five to ten thousand, ten to twenty-five thousand dollars). Census Bureau's Annual Business Survey (2018 edition, about 2017): businesses with paid employees that answered.
  • 9.1%census.gov ·2017 · Share of consulting and other professional service businesses that started with a hundred thousand dollars or more. Worked out: the survey's four biggest bands added up (from a hundred thousand dollars up). Census Bureau's Annual Business Survey (2018 edition, about 2017): businesses with paid employees that answered.
  • 62.5%census.gov ·2017 · Share of salons, repair shops and other service businesses that said they made a profit in 2017. Census Bureau's Annual Business Survey (2018 edition, about 2017): businesses with paid employees that answered.
  • 58.2%bls.gov ·2025 · Share of other services (salons, repair shops, laundries and more) locations that opened in the year to March 2015 and were still open in March 2020. Private businesses with employees, from the BLS survival tables.
  • $30,000example (example number: Simplified example: what Rosa has saved and can put in.) · Simplified example: what Rosa has saved and can put in.
  • $22,000example (example number: Simplified example: Rosa's guess at what a used van, grooming gear and the first supplies will cost.) · Simplified example: Rosa's guess at what a used van, grooming gear and the first supplies will cost.
  • $2,500example (example number: Simplified example: Rosa's rent, food and bills a month.) · Simplified example: Rosa's rent, food and bills a month.
  • $8,000example (example number: Worked out from the examples: Rosa's savings minus her guess at the cost to start.) · Worked out from the examples: Rosa's savings minus her guess at the cost to start.
  • 3.2 monthsexample (example number: Worked out from the examples: what's left after the start, divided by her living costs a month.) · Worked out from the examples: what's left after the start, divided by her living costs a month.
  • 6 monthsexample (example number: Our call, not a rule: fewer months than this without pay is worth a closer look.) · Our call, not a rule: fewer months than this without pay is worth a closer look.
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