Factually most businesses don’t make it past the 5 years point for different reasons which are not always even solvable by the the starting team. An example would be the market moving at a time where you don’t have enough available capital to adapt. The alternative is doing something relatively predictable and safe like a corner store or a bakery. There is good money to be made there but probably not much more than by doing a well paid engineering job for most.

Don’t get me wrong. Starting a business is a bet in yourself which is always good. I think people who are interested in the life style should definitely do it, just not by using all their retirement savings.