Why Are So Many Americans Starting Businesses Right Now?

This headline grabbed my attention this week: Starting a Business Has Become a Lot Easier—Here’s Why 5.7 Million Americans Took the Leap Last Year. That’s the most new business application filings in two decades of tracking. While the article itself focuses on how much easier it has become to hang a shingle thanks to technology, I believe there’s something else we can discover from the fact that more Americans took the self-employment route last year. People are quietly redesigning work for themselves because traditional jobs are no longer working for them.

So Why Now?

This boom in entrepreneurship isn’t because Americans are suddenly obsessed with business ownership. There have always been a large number of people who dream of leaving the cubicle behind and working for themselves. But far fewer ever truly made the leap.

So why now?

Sure, technology like AI certainly has made it easier, but it hasn’t made it any less risky.  What is it about our current times that has caused people to conclude that the risk is worth it?

I think it is because traditional employment is no longer seen as the safer route.

More workers are realizing that relying on a company to do right by them may carry just as much risk, if not more.

The Stability We Were Promised Is Disappearing

Traditional employment no longer provides the kind of stability it once promised. Wages have stagnated. Employees are expected to do more with less, often with little flexibility or concern for what is happening in the rest of their lives.

At the same time, more people need flexibility than traditional employers are willing to offer. They are raising families, caring for aging parents, managing health concerns all while trying to piece together lives that do not fit neatly into a rigid work schedule.

I think it is fair to say that many of them are tired of waiting for employers to show enough care or compassion to take workers’ needs into consideration at all.

Traditional employment used to be sold as the responsible choice. A steady job meant a dependable paycheck, benefits, predictable hours and at least the possibility of long-term security. Starting a business was the gamble. Keeping a job was what sensible people did. But that promise has been steadily chipped away.

Loyalty No Longer Guarantees Security

Employees can give years to a company and still be laid off with little warning. They can exceed expectations and be rewarded with more responsibilities instead of a meaningful raise. Flexible work arrangements can disappear at the whim of a new executive, even when employees have already proven that those arrangements work.

Health insurance remains tied to jobs that may never have been particularly secure in the first place.

Under those circumstances, entrepreneurship begins to look different.

It may still involve uncertainty, but at least it offers the possibility of building something you control. For someone already living with unpredictable hours, stagnant pay or the constant threat of restructuring, the risks of business ownership may no longer seem all that different from the risks they face as an employee.

Technology Lowered the Barriers, Not the Risk

Technology has also lowered many of the practical barriers to getting started. It is easier to create a website, accept payments, market a service, organize a business and reach potential customers without hiring a staff or investing a small fortune upfront.

That does not mean starting a business is easy, and it certainly does not mean it is safe. Business owners still face high costs, inconsistent income and plenty of financial uncertainty. Yet 5.7 million people filed business applications in 2025 despite those risks.

That tells us something important.

The Real Story Behind the Numbers

People are not simply choosing entrepreneurship because technology has made it easier. Many are choosing it because staying where they are no longer feels secure or sustainable. That is a powerful message about just how broken traditional work has become.

So while articles like the one above see these numbers as proof that technology has made it easier to become an entrepreneur, they may be missing the bigger takeaway.

People are not starting businesses because entrepreneurship suddenly looks easy. They are doing it because keeping a traditional job no longer feels like the safer choice.

Ready to Rethink the Way You Work?

If traditional work no longer feels secure, sustainable, or built for your actual life, you’re not imagining it. More people are questioning the old rules and looking for ways to create work that offers greater flexibility, control and breathing room.

I created Shift Support to gather practical resources for women who are ready to start redesigning work around their humanity, whether that means changing careers, simplifying a business, or taking the first steps toward working for themselves.

Explore Shift Support