One in three US adults now say they plan to start a new business or side hustle within the next 12 months — a 94% jump from the previous year, according to a survey Intuit QuickBooks commissioned of more than 3,000 US adults in December 2025. That’s not a marginal shift; it’s one of the sharpest single-year increases in entrepreneurial intent on record, and it sits alongside several other major changes reshaping small business in 2026. Here’s what’s actually driving it, what’s holding people back, and why AI has become such a central part of the story.
An Urgent Pull, Held Back by Real Financial Fear
The QuickBooks data paints a genuinely two-sided picture: Americans feel an urgent pull toward business ownership, but many are simultaneously held back by financial fears, funding gaps, and low confidence in core business finances. This tension — high desire, real hesitation — helps explain why so much of this year’s entrepreneurial activity is happening informally rather than through fully registered businesses.
Among the specific barriers aspiring entrepreneurs cite, lack of time ranks highest at 24%, followed by lack of business acumen at 22%. Neither of these is really about a shortage of ideas — they’re about the practical, unglamorous parts of starting a business that traditionally require money, expertise, or time most aspiring founders don’t feel they have.
AI Is Becoming the Bridge Between Intent and Action
This is where AI enters the picture directly, and the US numbers stand out even compared to other countries surveyed. 65% of aspiring US entrepreneurs say they’re likely to use AI to help launch their venture in 2026, with 31% saying they’re very likely to — a rate at least five percentage points higher than the UK, Canada, and Australia respondents in the same survey.
The appeal is straightforward: AI gives new entrepreneurs something close to a virtual business partner, capable of completing in minutes what might otherwise take days or weeks of unpaid, unfamiliar work. For someone whose biggest stated barrier is a lack of time or business acumen, that combination of speed and on-demand expertise directly targets the exact gap holding them back. Specific early-stage tasks aspiring founders plan to use AI for include brainstorming business ideas or market research (29%) and creating websites or product listings (19%), among other startup essentials.
AI Adoption Varies Meaningfully by Generation
Interestingly, it’s not the youngest generation leading AI adoption among aspiring entrepreneurs. Millennials report the highest likelihood of using AI to launch a business, with 40% saying they’re very likely to and 75% saying they’ll use it in some capacity — a higher overall adoption rate than both Gen X (61%) and Gen Z (59%). This runs counter to the common assumption that younger, more digitally native generations would automatically lead AI adoption; instead, it’s the generation often juggling the most existing responsibilities — career, family, financial obligations — that appears most drawn to AI’s time-saving potential specifically.
Why So Much of This Activity Stays Informal
A large share of this entrepreneurial surge isn’t showing up as officially registered businesses. Roughly 47% of Americans earned side hustle income in the past year, but only about 1 in 5 formally registered that activity as a business — a gap that reflects the same barriers (time, confidence, complexity) showing up at the formalization stage rather than just the starting stage. Closing that gap, through simpler tools and clearer financial guidance, represents a real opportunity: millions of already-active side hustlers could convert into fully formed businesses if the path to formalizing felt less daunting.
What This Means Going Forward
The throughline across all of this data is that the desire to build something independent has rarely been stronger, even as the traditional obstacles — funding, time, expertise — remain genuinely real. AI’s growing role isn’t eliminating those obstacles, but for a meaningful share of aspiring entrepreneurs, it’s making the first steps feel achievable in a way they didn’t before, which may be exactly why intent has jumped so sharply in a single year.
The Bottom Line
The surge in entrepreneurial intent for 2026 isn’t happening in a vacuum — it’s a direct response to both push factors (corporate dissatisfaction, layoffs) and pull factors (a genuine desire for independence), compounded by AI tools that are lowering the practical cost of getting started. Whether this record level of intent translates into a record number of actually registered, sustained businesses may come down to how well aspiring founders can close the gap between wanting to start and knowing how.
FAQs
How many Americans plan to start a business in 2026?
One in three US adults (33%) say they plan to start a new business or side hustle within the next 12 months, a 94% increase from the previous year, according to Intuit QuickBooks’ December 2025 survey.
What’s the biggest barrier to starting a business in 2026?
Lack of time is the most commonly cited barrier at 24%, followed by lack of business acumen at 22%, alongside broader financial fears and funding gaps reported across the survey.
How many aspiring entrepreneurs plan to use AI to start their business?
65% of aspiring US entrepreneurs say they’re likely to use AI to help launch their business in 2026, with 31% saying they’re very likely to, a higher rate than aspiring entrepreneurs in Canada, the UK, and Australia.
Which generation is most likely to use AI to start a business?
Millennials report the highest AI adoption intent among aspiring entrepreneurs, with 75% saying they’ll use AI in some capacity, ahead of Gen X (61%) and Gen Z (59%).
Why do so many side hustlers not register as an official business?
Roughly 47% of Americans earned side hustle income in the past year, but only about 1 in 5 formally registered it as a business, largely due to the same barriers of time, confidence, and complexity that discourage formal business formation more broadly.