Do the long hours you put in as a small business owner make you happy?  Does worrying about your business’ sales and profits bring you peace of mind?  Or are you ready to throw in the towel and call it quits?  A recent Gallup Poll just might change your mind. 

Between January 2 – August 19, 2009, Gallup interviewed 100,826 adults in various occupations to measure their well-being.  Gallup uses the data to create the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index as a way of determining

People’s well-being at the close of every day based on the World Health Organization (WHO) definition of health as not only the absence of infirmity and disease but also a state of physical, mental and social well-being.

Interestingly, the results of Gallup’s Poll showed self-employed Americans have the highest overall well-being and the highest satisfaction with their work environment.  Their well-being scores beat out the next highest groups of professionals and managers/executives. 

On its own these results are not too shocking.  However, combine this finding with another recent Gallup Poll showing that this same group works the most number of hours in a typical work week.  Almost half of self-employed Americans (49%) report that they work over 44 hours in a typical work week.  Only 38% of those employed by a private business report working over 44 hours per week.  Longer working hours = increased well-being? 

Is there a correlation between longer working hours and higher well-being?  Probably not.  A better explanation of these two polls is that there are other factors present in owning your own business (e.g. being your own boss) that significantly offset the detriment derived from working longer hours.  Working longer hours does not significantly reduce the emotional well-being gained from owning your own business. 

The emotional well-being results are even more shocking when you realize that the study was conducted during the heart of one of the deepest recessions America has ever seen.  And business owners are among the hardest hit.  Other surveys show small business owners’ optimism to be at all-time lows due to falling sales and profits.  It appears that worries about falling sales, profits and weathering the recession also do not substantially offset the emotional benefits of owning your own business.  Or do they? 

What do you think?  

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