82% of Global Entrepreneurs Confident in Current Economic Environment

Global Entrepreneur Indicator Survey Conducted by Entrepreneurs' Organization Captures Current Sentiment and Future Outlook

Alexandria, Virginia, USA (20 March 2018) – Entrepreneurs' Organization (EO), the world's leading peer-to-peer network of successful business owners, has announced the results from its latest semi-annual survey, the Global Entrepreneur Indicator (GEI). Unchanged since the last survey period in August 2017, optimism continues to remain a ruling sentiment for entrepreneurs across the globe as 82.7% of all respondents expressed a willingness to start a business in the current economic environment. Overall hiring sentiment also continued to remain positive with a 3.5% increase in this survey period as 64.5% of entrepreneurs globally expect to increase the number of full-time employees.

The GEI survey, designed to deliver information on job creation, profit outlook and access to capital, examines the current economic market and realities for entrepreneurs to provide insights across a six month period. The latest edition of the survey includes an analysis of responses from 4,480 EO member entrepreneurs across 170 chapters and 58 countries.

Entrepreneurs in the USA are the most confident in their current economic scenario with 92.2% willing to start a new business now. At 73.5%, entrepreneurs in South Asia, are not as willing to start businesses currently but are the most optimistic about their economy as 62.3% say their country's economic environment will improve over the next six months.

Up 2% since last measured in August 2017, 68.7% of global entrepreneurs reported an increase in revenue over the last six months and 82.7% expect increased revenue in the next six months. Our survey asked participants to select their primary focus area for the next six months, between improving profitability, hiring more employees, or investing in research and development. Globally, 59.2% indicated a focus on profitability. Analyzing regional responses to this same question reveals the following trends:

• Entrepreneurs in APAC, Europe, and USA have indicated a higher focus on employee growth as compared to other parts of the world.
• Business owners and entrepreneurs in South Asia, Middle East, Pakistan and Africa show a higher focus on research and development than the global average.

Taking a closer look at gender based demographics,  male entrepreneurs across the globe experienced greater ease in acquiring external funding during the past six months with 40% indicating it was 'easy' or 'very easy,' while 33% of female entrepreneurs said the same.

The GEI survey offers global and regional insights on entrepreneurship trends and the respondents participating in the survey are founders of businesses with at least US$1 million in annual revenues.

For further information about the GEI survey and for more detailed global and regional reports, please visit the Global Entrepreneur Indicator page.