BiggerPockets Money Podcast · Tuesday, September 8, 2026
Alex Sarnack highlights a significant gap between Americans' desire for business ownership and actual action, citing a Gallop survey where 68% expressed interest but only 12% pursued it. He suggests that franchising offers a de-risked path for these individuals by providing a proven playbook and support system, allowing them to bypass the initial steps of entrepreneurship.
“So Gallop did an interesting survey a couple years ago and they found that I think it was like 68% of Americans indicated they wanted to be a business owner and entrepreneur, but the reality is only 12% of them actually do it. And so why is there this 50+ percent gap of those that never take action?”
“And I think it's because they don't know where to start, you know, a lot of people are in corporate careers or getting paid well, they get comfortable. Franchising is for that individual that develops skills around people management, maybe sales and marketing, they're really good at operations, they have some skill set, but they haven't, you know, again, come up with some next Uber or next Facebook and franchising is a de-risked path to going and becoming an owner because you have a playbook, you have a group of peers that you can rely on and share notes with, you have a system, you know, for the most part proven, they're not always proven in, there's, you know, risks associated with some brands.”