FIU study probes entrepreneurial activity in South Florida

A newly released FIU study making headlines around the state shows South Floridians are more likely to start or run a new business than to have a baby. They are even more likely to be entrepreneurs than to get married.

The study by researchers at the Eugenio Pino and Family Global Entrepreneurship Center measured the level of entrepreneurial activity in Miami-Dade, Broward and Monroe counties.

“South Florida Entrepreneurship: The 2004 Assessment,” reports 330,000 individuals are involved in starting a business or managing one less than four years old. Paul Reynolds, the lead researcher and director of the Entrepreneurship Research Institute at the Pino Center, said the economic impact of this massive amount of activity is large, but the entrepreneurial process is not well understood.

“When you consider that entrepreneurship generates about half of all new jobs in an economy, this group of people is very important,” Reynolds said. “The new data can give us more precise information about entrepreneurial behavior, and consequently helps develop more focused policy recommendations.”

Emphasis on economic development has always been made on technology and export-oriented business ventures, but the lack of systemic data has prevented an understanding of the considerable economic impact of entrepreneurial activity, he said.

In addition to the measure of the total number of people involved, the study looks at the involvement of minorities in entrepreneurship, the education levels of entrepreneurs, their income levels and aspirations for their new businesses.

One of the myths dispelled by the study is that most people who start their own business do it out of necessity. While Miami-Dade has a higher percentage of “necessity entrepreneurs” when compared to the rest of the country, most people — four in five — go into business because they see an opportunity, the study found.

Among other findings in the study:

• The “Cuban entrepreneurial enclave” is no longer a distinctive feature of the South Florida economy.
• Hispanics are more active in start-ups in North Florida. Optimism among South Florida’s new business owners is higher than in the rest of the country, with many expecting to add new positions in their businesses.
• South Florida has a higher percentage than the rest of the nation of entrepreneurs with less than an 8th grade education

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