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To expand somewhat on the great information that @Standback provided, you have to keep in mind that the numbers you found pertaining to business success is in itself an incomplete number. The government statistics are based on those businesses that are actually documented as a result of completing some type of government form, such as a business permit or tax ID number. There are no doubt countless businesses that are started without completing these forms that ultimately fail without anyone "officially" documenting that they existed in the first place.
In a similar vein, no publisher is going to keep a running total of the number of manuscripts they receive and ultimately reject. The main reason for this is because the number would be so daunting it would discourage most writers from ever making the attempt. Agents face similar problems, but at least some of them are more likely to share their acceptance numbers. According to the assumptions Standback made in his response, 1 in 2000 manuscripts is likely to be taken on by an agent. That number represents 2000 separate stories, and not authors. There may be five manuscripts from one author in that mix, but either way, the numbers are still pretty staggering.
I found a quote from a literary agent that I think helps to provide a little perspective:
The reality is that the market for new fiction is horrendous. Of course, editors are looking for new writers, but the hurdles editors have to leap to acquire unpublished authors are nearly impossible to scale -- editors need both a highly marketable as well as a brilliantly executed novel in order to acquire it. - Simon Lipskar
An interesting aside from this quote is that it is a quote from about ten years ago, and the odds of getting accepted have dropped even more since then.
While I think it is noble that you want to give yourself a specific goal, I don't think that there is any clear and simple way to find an average on which to base your goal. You would be better served just settling on a number that you believe is reasonable before deciding to move on. You also need to decide if your goal is based on submissions to agents or submissions that you make directly to the publishers. Going through an agent could possibly get you broader exposure to more publishers, which would mean starting with a smaller number for your goal.
Another thing that you need to take into consideration is how much time you want to devote to getting published. Are you willing to have a manuscript shopped around for a year, or two, or three? Will you stop writing if you don't get any bites on the first manuscript? These are additional factors that should equal or greater importance.
If ultimately your goal is to just write your stories and get them into the hands of the public, then you might find it more beneficial to pursue self-publishing as an e-book. That market is expanding enormously and the potential is far greater (in my opinion). You could continue to try selling your short stories or articles to help provide a foundation of experience, and then as you acquire those points of recognition, draw attention to them as part of the promotion for your e-books.
I read an article somewhere once where someone was asking for advice on how to pursue a career as a writer, and I'll try to present the same scenario that was suggested there. Let's say you have the idea/outline for six different books, all of which could become parts of a series. If you don't sell the first one, would you still plan/want to write the others? If the answer is yes, then you should concentrate on being a writer and spend less time worrying about selling the books before they are written. If the answer is no, then you are more interested in the business venture, and that would be more of your focus than the actual writing.
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