Most Entrepreneurs Start with Limited Funds, No Business Plan

A new survey shows three out of four businesses are funded from personal savings.

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Small-business owners get their start with an average of just $10,000 in initial capital, according to the latest Wells Fargo/Gallup Small Business Index.

Close to three-quarter of businesses (73%) were primarily funded by the owner's personal savings, while 37% were funded in part by loans and lines of credit.

"The survey results provide us with real insight into what it takes to start and run a small business, and what many small-business owners wish they had at the onset -- more capital and more financial management education," Rebecca Macieira-Kaufmann, executive vice president and head of the Wells Fargo's small-business unit, said in a statement.

While more than half of the approximately 600 business owners surveyed said it would have been easier to start their companies had more money been available, start-up financing was not the only challenge they identified.

Forty-nine percent of respondents said advice from other business owners also would have made their start-up days easier, while 39% said a better understanding of financial management would have helped.

Only 31% of small business owners surveyed started with business plans.