The majority (84%) of Aussie business owners are currently happy or very happy with their business according to the first MYOB Business Happiness Index.
In the belief that happy business owners who are passionate about and love their work are committed to their business and will push forward through thick and thin, MYOB has, for the first time, measured these attitudes and issues amongst business owners in Australia.
The Index shows positive results across business size when looking at how happy owners are with their business, with 89% of medium businesses (20-199 employees), 87% of small businesses (5-19 employees), 86% of sole traders and 80% of micro businesses (1-4 employees) responding that they were quite happy or very happy with their business.
Tim Reed, MYOB CEO, said: “These very positive results clearly show the true spirit of Australian business owners when you think that less than 12 months ago we were in the grip of a global economic crisis. Our economy was one of the few to remain out of recession and I have no doubt that the positive and passionate attitude of our business owners revealed by the MYOB Business Happiness Index would have played a significant role in that achievement.”
He added: “It’s clear that Aussie businesses are the lifeblood of our economy. With their positive and courageous attitude they truly are our strength.”
The MYOB Business Happiness Index reveals that having happy customers, the flexibility of hours and location, and being themselves or having the flexibility to have their own style has the most impact on business owners loving their work.
The research also reveals that male and female business owners are equally happy with their business (85%). The least happy are owners of micro businesses, with 20% reporting they were quite or very unhappy. This was a clear 6% difference from the other types of businesses.
“It‟s interesting that micro business owners reported the highest level of unhappiness. Our experience is that businesses in this category tend to be the ones most impacted by growing pains,” Reed commented. “They have just brought on employees and are dealing with the legal complexities and red tape burden that comes with being an employer, but don‟t yet have the scale to have specialist resources in their business.”
The Index found that Victorian business owners were the happiest (87%) followed by South Australia (85%) and New South Wales and Queensland (both at 84%).
“The Index also found a difference in the happiness of city and rural based businesses. 87% of city-based business owners reported being happy compared with 79% of business owners in rural locations,” Reed said.
The happiest industry sector in the MYOB Index was Transport and Storage (89%) followed by Construction and Trades (87%) and Professional Services and Property (86%). The least happy industries were Retail & Hospitality and Finance & Insurance (81%).
The impact of different business factors on how much business owners love and enjoy their work include:
- 88% say „having happy customers‟ helps them love their work
- 88% say freedom and flexibility of hours and location help them love their work
- 88% say being myself, having my own individual style helps them love their work
- 86% say being own boss, doing it my way helps them love their work
- 80% say more time at home helps them love their work
- 80% say higher profits helps them love their work.
