Startup Success Trends in Small Business Beyond Five-Years: A Qualitative Research Study

Background

The United States is currently recovering from the largest economic downturn since the Great Depression (Semoon, 2010). The government has had to step in and provide public funds to save big banks (Verschoor, 2010). The current and future economic environment may present a great opportunity for entrepreneurs to start businesses and sustain them, as there are always business problems to solve.

The issue addressed in this qualitative, phenomenological study is the high failure rate of small business entrepreneurs. All of the factors needed for success after 5 years in business was investigated. According to a report issued by the U.S. Department of Commerce (2009), 30% of startups fail in the first 2 years. Despite favorable research that may have supported small business success, the rate of failure is still rather high. Similarly, Boden and Headd (2002) noted that businesses fail 50% of the time after the fourth year of operations. The problem of small business failure has negatively affected the U.S. economy. This study may help to remedy the situation by providing new knowledge on sustainability that can reduce the number of small business failures.