Gurus churn out books on the subject constantly. Some push to-do lists. Notwithstanding the gurus' claims, no one knows why businesses survive or fail. It's difficult to research small businesses because they're a fragmented group and there's a dearth of public financial information.
Studies often rely on anecdotes, old data, or entrepreneurs' selective memories.
Mass. Now, amid great public interest in small companies, the Entrepreneurial Research Consortium is tackling the question. The researchers are also surveying a comparison group of non-entrepreneurs. The project, whose coordinator is Babson's Reynolds, started with pilot studies in 1995 and 1997. Academics and policymakers from seven European countries, Australia, and Canada are also consortium members, and they're planning parallel studies. Data from the first follow-up interviews are just emerging, and researchers will release their findings over the next year.