What percentage of new businesses fail?

Although the percentage varies depending on the length of time a new business is open and the industry it is in, the average consensus is that about 50 percent of businesses fail within the first four years of being in business.

Three major studies that looked at this question produced the same results for the four-year and six-year marks. At six years, a little less than 40 percent of new businesses were still open. Two different studies, one conducted in 1989 and the other in 2008, reached the same results, concluding that the digital revolution did not directly affect the success rate of a new business.