Small business owners have sacrificed their free time for nearly a year while starting up

THE average small business owner gave up his weekends for nine months when starting up.

A survey of 500 people who have started their own business revealed the highs and lows of owning a business.

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The results showed that 27% claimed that saying goodbye to their free time was the biggest sacrifice they had to make.

Others believe they have given up their normal 9-5 work (30%), financial security (28%) and family time (16%).

A quarter say they worked more than twelve hours on an average day when they first started and functioned on six hours of sleep per night.

While 15% missed major family events such as birthdays and anniversaries and 12% of parents were unable to attend a parents’ evening or sports day, for example.

The research was commissioned by Smart Energy GB and found that almost two-thirds (64%) believe they took on too many roles when starting their business.

Nearly all respondents (98%) work evenings and weekends, regularly catching up on paperwork (36%), reviewing accounts (32%), posting to social media (30%) and managing utility bills (22%) on their to-do lists outside office hours.

And 43% still work more than forty hours a week.

Despite this, 83% agreed that the hard work was worth it in the end.

Victoria Bacon, director of Smart Energy GB, said: “The research shows how much time and unprecedented hours often go into setting up and then running a small business.

“Even making small changes, such as purchasing a smart meter, can help take one thing off a business owner’s to-do list because energy consumption is measured in near real-time, eliminating the need to manually read meters and estimated bills.

“A smart meter can also help a business owner track their energy use and costs over time, which can help control cash flow and budgets.”

The benefits of being their own boss (46%), loving the challenge (28%) and making their family proud (23%) kept them going through the tough times.

And more than three-quarters (79%) said opening their doors for the first time was their proudest career moment.

The research also shows that the biggest challenges for entrepreneurs are higher operating costs (28%), customers spending less due to the cost of living crisis (26%) and having to fill numerous roles (20%).

If they were to do it all again, they would advise their younger selves to stay motivated (35%) and focused (32%), seek advice from experts (24%) and keep records (23%). ).

On reflection, many would set small but achievable goals (24%) and limit excessively long hours (20%), with 38% wanting to prioritize work-life balance.

While according to OnePoll statistics, it only took two years for 27% to consider their new business a ‘success’.

The top motivations for getting started were being your own boss (42%), earning more (35%) and pursuing a passion (26%).

Victoria Bacon added: “From our research we can see how many tasks and responsibilities small business owners have to juggle, which for many of them means investing many hours that can be transferred into their private lives.

“It’s good to see that our research shows that despite the hard work, most small business owners also appreciate the rewards.”