According to the survey, done by business research firm Dun and Bradstreet, 62,160 enterprises started operations in the second quarter of the year, up from 50,539 in the first quarter. As well, fewer businesses failed in the second quarter, Dun and Bradstreet found, with 9927 failures between April and June. This was down 11 per cent on the first quarter.

The figures echo the results of business confidence figures in June, which showed an marked increase compared to May and April. Consumer confidence figures have also improved but remain below April's levels due to the impact of the May budget. Only National Australia Bank's quarterly ASX300 business confidence survey – released on Tuesday – has dampened the mood somewhat, recording a nine-point fall in confidence from +11 to +3 among the nation's largest companies.

Nevertheless, the start-up figures for the June quarter were "most encouraging", said the economic adviser to Dun and Bradstreet, Stephen Koukoulas. "The dynamic position of the Australian economy shows up very clearly," he said.

Furthermore, he said, 64 per cent of businesses were more optimistic about growth in 2014 than in 2013.

The increase in business failures was "concerning" but "in a vibrant economy where risk taking is to be encouraged, there will always be some businesses that simply don't make it".

"The critical issue is that the number of new business start-ups outpaces business failures – if this trend can be sustained for the year ahead, the rate of economic growth should remain firm."

On a year-to-year basis there were 8 per cent more start-ups in 2014 compared to 2013 and 11 per cent fewer failures.

On a state basis, compared to a year earlier:

* The ACT (23 per cent) and Victoria (15 per cent) experienced the greatest percentage increases in business start-ups.

* South Australia had the weakest result, with 8.5 per cent fewer businesses created compared to the previous year.

* In Tasmania, there was a 55 per cent increase in business failures.

* In the ACT, there was a 24 per cent rise.

Compared to the previous quarter:

* South Australia (19 per cent), the Northern Territory (18 per cent) and Western Australia and Victoria (16 per cent) all recorded significantly fewer failures.

Dun and Bradstreet did not do an analysis of industries where most start-ups occurred. But of the industries that failed, more than half occurred in two industries: services (29 per cent) and finance, insurance and real estate (26 per cent).

The biggest increase in year-on-year failures occurred in the transportation, communications and utilities sector (70 per cent) and manufacturing (67 per cent).

Chris Brycki, founder of start-up online investment business Stockspot, said that Australia's economy was not a concern for him. "To do something like this, people have to be comfortable in their lifestyle and how they're going and many Australians are, luckily, in that position," he said. "There are plenty of Australians who have built up a savings buffer that allows them to do something like this."

Mr Brycki, who is based in Sydney, said Australia had weathered the GFC well, unemployment remained low, and wages were high – too high, unfortunately, for him to employ staff.

He said he had been paid well himself – firstly, as an employee of global investment bank UBS and then for a sharemarket hedge fund. "But people even in pretty well-paid jobs are getting sick of that corporate lifestyle.

"For a lot of people it's not that engaging and they're just getting bored and wanting a new challenge. I never felt comfortable working in a large corporation where there was a lot of red tape and it was very difficult to get things done and get innovative stuff done."

Stockspot, which has been running for several months, invests in lower-cost ASX-listed exchange-traded funds (ETFs). "For me it was more of a passion on the investment side and I saw an idea for a good product that could help people."

Bridgette McQuillan, who is based in the regional Victorian town of Ballarat, is in the process of launching her toddler-wear business Totsox. It specialises in rubber-soled, non-slip socks for toddlers aged between nine and 24 months.

Ms McQuillan developed a passion for the socks when she had a baby daughter. "She was slipping all over the place and it was starting to get dangerous," she said. "I was given a pair by my sister-in-law ... my daughter wore them out. I had to find a pair and I couldn't find a pair of them anywhere.

"I decided I wanted to develop something. The ones that I developed are made in China but the designs are done by ourselves."

Ms McQuillan said she had no qualms starting a business as long as she was selling a niche product. Niche products always tended to do well, she said, and there is always going to be a demand for kid's clothing. "And it's not one of those products which are incredibly expensive."