A new survey by the Kaufman Foundation shows Americans see entrepreneurship as the “silver bullet” for our troubled economy–but they’re afraid to take the plunge themselves.

What’s holding them back?  We think it’s a lack of information:  They’re not taking action because they don’t know how to find out if their ideas will fly.

According to Kaufman’s CEO, “More than 70 percent of voters say the health of the economy depends on the success of entrepreneurs, and a full 80 percent want to see the government use its resources to actively encourage entrepreneurship in America.”

The survey shows that, despite Americans’ belief that entrepreneurship can get us out of this financial mess, 71% also believe that recent events make it more difficult to become an entrepreneur.  “The study shows a gulf between those who see opportunities and those willing to seize them; 49 percent of respondents see opportunities for entrepreneurial ideas in the current economy but only 26 percent said they would actually consider starting a business within the next five years,” says Kaufman’s head.

What a sad commentary:  Nearly half of Americans see the opportunity that lies out there, but only a little over one-quarter are even considering seizing that opportunity.

It’s the same old story that we see over and over in Internet marketing:  So many people see the opportunity in front of them, but so few take action.

What’s holding them back?  Fear.

What do they need to overcome that fear?  Information.

Let’s take MySurveyExpert.com as an example.  We had an idea for a new venture:  Putting survey science in the hands of Internet marketers, showing them how to get the information they need to make their businesses thrive.

Did we say “Oh, wouldn’t it be nice?” or “maybe someday . . . ” or worse yet, “people probably wouldn’t buy it?”  No.  We got information, to see if our idea would WORK.

We did an opinion survey.

• We asked Internet marketers if they were doing surveys frequently in their businesses–three-quarters of them aren’t.
• We asked them if they had a system in place for doing surveys–more than two-thirds of them said no.
• We asked them if they WOULD do surveys more often if they had a system in place for doing surveys easily–82% said yes.

Bingo.  Houston, we have a market.

• We found a major problem in Internet marketing:  Internet marketers aren’t getting the information they need because they don’t have a system in place for getting it.
• From there, we went on to measure the width of the problem, the depth of the pain.  In other words, we asked more survey questions.
• Based on the results, we’ve created a product, a survey system that will let Internet marketers get the information they need, on an ongoing basis.  And it’s about to hit the market.

It’s so simple, so basic:  Take your idea, get the information you need to see if it will work.  Do a survey.  If that idea won’t fly, do a survey about another idea–after all, one thing entrepreneurs DON’T lack is ideas.  But what they DO lack is information to help them hone those ideas and turn them into products.

Don’t let that happen to you.  Seize the moment, get the information you need to bring your ideas to reality.  Put a survey system in place.  See your business soar–and help our economy recover, in the process.