We all know that entrepreneurs have had it tough over the past few years. But starting around mid-2004, my startup consulting company started receiving a flood of inquiries from entrepreneurs who wanted assistance. VC activity in many sectors started picking up at around the same time. Erika Brown at Forbes reported that U.S. venture capital funds raised over $10 billion in the first three quarters of 2004, and were expected to raise as much in the final quarter, adding to the $75 billion already available for investment. And 2005 is expected to be even better. The IPO market seemed to perk up a bit as well, with Google’s successful IPO. It looks like we may finally be leaving the nuclear winter behind and entering a new era for startups.

A survey by the National Federation of Independent Business offers reasons to feel optimistic. Most notably, 47% of small business owners expect the economy to improve, 35% expect sales to improve, and 29% believe that this is a good time to expand. The overall index matches the 30 year high.

The conclusion? This is a great time to start a business.