While some studies have claimed differences in achievement among siblings based on birth order, a survey of small-business owners indicated that oldest, middle, youngest and only children are equally likely to have entrepreneurial aspirations.
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The survey, conducted by online payroll service SurePayroll, found that the career paths of an entrepreneur's parents -- not birth order -- may affect the decision to start a business.

Time magazine article cited a study suggesting that firstborns are less likely to become entrepreneurs. But in the SurePayroll survey, 38 percent of respondents were oldest or only children, followed closely by youngest children at 34 percent and middle children at 28 percent -- suggesting that birth order has little or no effect on the likelihood of becoming a business owner, according to the payroll service.

But 60 percent of the small-business owners said that second-generation entrepreneurs are more likely to be successful than first-generation entrepreneurs.

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