There’s never been a better time to start your own company. That helps explain why America just witnessed the biggest business startup boom of our lifetimes.

• 5.4 million people applied for small-business licenses last year — a 53% jump from 2019, pre-pandemic.
• Global investment in startups shattered records in 2021, hitting $643 billion — 10x what it was 10 years ago.

Why it matters: Most people don't have the luxury of starting their own businesses. But for those who do, especially young people, several trends make it more appealing than ever.

1. Safety net. The job market for college-educated talent is hot, so there is a very viable Plan B if you fail.
2. Work-from-anywhere. Talent is spreading everywhere — your ability to find partners and workers is no longer confined to your physical location.
3. Costs are sinking. Many workers no longer expect an office or a building, so one big cost has vanished. At the same time, you can start websites and leverage cheap open-source technology for prices unthinkably low just years ago.
4. Virtual help. Almost any service you need — think accounting, H.R., supplies — is instantly available in the digital world.
5. Win by losing. Employers yearn for entrepreneurial spirit. So they'd value your experience if you fail, as most startups do.
6. Everything’s fair game. Almost everything you see, touch and use is being reinvented in real time, thanks to technology and the pandemic.

Take this tidbit to family and friends: This startup boom is lifting America out of one of the least entrepreneurial periods of its history, the 2010s.

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Erica talked with three entrepreneurs who are making it happen:

🍝 Nic Bryon, a chef in Tampa Bay, started the meal-kit company Pasta Packs with his brother Greg, after the restaurant Nic worked at closed for COVID lockdown.

• They started by selling to friends via Instagram and have hired more kitchen staff, expanded to deliveries all over the country and added a storefront.

🚲 Ian Oestreich lost his job as a trainer when his Madison, Wis., gym closed. "So I called on my old skills," he says — repairing bikes.

• Bike shops were overwhelmed at the start of the pandemic as everyone wanted to stay outdoors and active.
• So he started Curbside Bicycles, a pop-up bike repair shop that traveled around Madison, and found customers via word of mouth and neighborhood social media groups. He has since expanded to Chicago and Phoenix. The Twin Cities is next.

🍞Esmeralda Jimenez in San Diego went part-time at her job with a property management company to scale Clementina's Sweets, which she started right before the pandemic. The bakery is named after her grandmother, and specializes in Mexican bread and pastries.

• "When the pandemic hit, I had time to focus," she says. Business has boomed.
• She plans to quit her other job soon and hire on help: "I know that I’m ready, and I will make it."