Well, most small businesses fail in the first few years. But that doesn't stop millions of them from becoming viable. We tend to think that the ecosystem only h

Well, most small businesses fail in the first few years. But that doesn't stop millions of them from becoming viable. We tend to think that the ecosystem only has room for a handful of Internet or technology companies, but that's far the case. Sure, the Web itself is something of a black hole for profitability, where more often than not the startup itself is essentially the product. But this is not representative of the wider phenomenon of small business formation. It's becoming much cheaper to create and run a small business, and as a result the rate at which new businesses are launched has grown.