There’s never been a more popular time to start a business. Over the past five years, there have been more than 5 million new business applications filed per year, according to the US Census Bureau. (Compare that to just 2.8 million new business applications in 2015.) If you’re one of the aspiring founders looking to start your entrepreneurial journey, the first step is finding the best small business ideas for you.
“People who are working in a [particular area] might say ‘Hey, I’m doing this and it has a clear impact for my company, but I could do it better or make more money if I started my own company’,” says Peter Hansen, director of research and policy analysis with the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB). “It’s a localized experience that tells you it’s the time to do it.”