Wisconsin last in starting small business, but ranked high in longevity

Study finds five-year survival rate over 50 percent for businesses

Wisconsin might not be a great place to start a business. But, once it’s going, there’s a pretty good chance it will survive.

That’s part of the glowing evaluation of the small and local business environment in the state included in the latest Kauffman Index on Main Street Entrepreneurship. 

The study finds, among the 25 largest states, Wisconsin places second overall for small and local business environment.

The study finds a very high density of small businesses, a high percentage of adults in any given area that own their own business and five-year survival rate of over 50 percent for small business.

Another recent study by the same group found that Wisconsin placed dead last among all states as a place to actually start up a business.