Game of Loans

Just as the rival kings in Game of Thrones battle to expand their powerbases, in real life, entrepreneurs compete to get their businesses off the ground and into profitable status. Recent data sheds light on interesting statistics related to business startups and financing.

For instance, while capital has been very difficult to obtain, a full 20 percent of last year’s entrepreneurs were able to finance their startups with business loans. Of those, the average business loan balance was $256,060.

But that still left 80 percent of entrepreneurs to find capital elsewhere. Out of those who said they were unable to get money from a lender, 53 percent claimed that lack of capital prevented them from growing or expanding their business.

The Game of Loans involves more than just financing. Other business and demographic-related data, including that of gender, education, and experience levels of your average entrepreneur are also revealed below.

Some of the highlights include:

• One-third of startup owners were women
• A greater share of female business owners had master’s or doctorate degrees
• 52 percent of 2012’s business owners had started more than one company 

While the information clearly shows that gender inequality remains a modern ailment in the world of business and startups, certainly both male and female entrepreneurs can agree on one thing: In the Game of Loans, you either win or you default.