Owners of startup companies are surprisingly optimistic about 2012, according to the first Kauffman/LegalZoom Startup Confidence Index released today by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and LegalZoom. More than one-fourth of the respondents said they plan to hire additional staff in 2012, and twice as many of them expect the economy to improve or stay the same (68 percent) as those who expect it to deteriorate (31 percent).
The Kauffman Foundation sponsored the survey in conjunction with LegalZoom, the nation's leading provider of online legal document services and legal plans to young companies. The findings are based on 800 responses to a nationwide survey in January 2012 distributed via email to LegalZoom clients who formed their entities within the last twelve months.
The Startup Confidence Index is the first in a series of quarterly surveys to gauge entrepreneurial confidence.
