The Problem
A nonprofit dedicated to advancing policies that strengthen the environment for entrepreneurship needed a reliable way to measure and track public sentiment around business conditions, both broadly and at the state level.
The organization wanted to establish national benchmarks capturing how Americans perceive the overall climate for starting and growing a business, alongside more granular attitudinal data reflecting the underlying factors that shape those perceptions. They needed a repeatable measurement framework that could be fielded year over year, giving them a credible, data-driven foundation for reporting trends, engaging stakeholders, and making the case to state-level policymakers.
The Approach
We designed and fielded a survey-based study in close collaboration with the client to identify and define the core benchmarking metrics:
– Worked with the client to develop key benchmarking metrics around intent to start a business and perceptions of overall entrepreneurship and business conditions.
– Recruited respondents across the US using a balanced sample calibrated to reflect the national population by age and gender.
– Secured targeted state-level samples to support the client’s state-specific policy initiatives and enable meaningful regional comparisons.
The Results
» Established a repeatable benchmarking framework the client can field year over year, positioning them as a go-to source for this data and differentiating them from other organizations working in the small business space.
» Delivered state-specific reads on new business environment perceptions, giving the client objective, credible data to bring directly to policymakers.
» Produced clear, accessible findings on Americans’ attitudes toward starting a business, equipping the organization with pitchable factoids for press outreach and strengthening their credibility as a leading nonprofit voice on entrepreneurship.
Did You Know...
A benchmark is only as useful as the audience it is designed to reach. Before fielding a study, it is worth asking: who will ultimately receive these findings, and what do they need to see to take action? When the target audience is defined upfront, researchers can craft questions that produce data that is not just accurate, but genuinely persuasive to the people who matter most.
