Entrepreneur MILLION FILED TO START A BUSINESS LAST YEAR. HERE'S WHY IT'S EASIER THAN EVER

Entrepreneur MILLION FILED TO START A BUSINESS LAST YEAR. HERE'S WHY IT'S EASIER THAN EVER AI is the reason the number keeps climbing. A University of British Columbia study found generative AI is "spurring entrepreneurial activity" by making it cheaper and faster to get a business off the ground, according to reporting by The New York Times. The barrier to starting has never been lower, not because markets got easier, but because the tools did. Entrepreneur A former flight attendant used ChatGPT to build a Pilates empire. Cassidy Winkler used ChatGPT to build her business plan, name and logo for Revel Method Pilates. She now has three locations, 65 employees and a fourth studio on the way. She started with an idea and a free AI tool. The execution was hers, but the barrier to entry was dramatically lower than it would have been five years ago. Entrepreneur Most of these businesses don't need big teams. The majority of new business applications are for solo operations — founders using AI to skip building a team entirely. One person can now cover what used to require a marketing department, a designer, a copywriter and an operations manager. The solo founder with the right tools is a fundamentally different business unit than it used to be. Entrepreneur The best time to start really is now. Five years ago, "just start" was motivational advice. In 2026, it's a practical one. AI handles the parts that used to require hiring or outsourcing. The cost of testing an idea is lower than at any point in business history. The 5.7 million people who filed last year understood something worth paying attention to. Entrepreneur