Biz owners feeling more satisfied but less successful

New York--U.S. small business owners are more satisfied today with their role as entrepreneur than they were at the end of the recession but also are less likely to see themselves as successful, a recent Wells Fargo/Gallup survey shows.

Conducted earlier this year, the survey questioned 601 small business owners across all 50 states and Washington, D.C. over the telephone.

The study found that 56 percent of small business owners say they are either extremely or very satisfied with being a small business owner. This is up from 45 percent in 2010.

However, fewer owners said that they feel extremely or very successful--37 percent in 2014, which is the lowest figure in a decade, Gallup said.

While small business owners’ satisfaction with their career choice has been up and down since the recession began, their perceptions of being successful have trended downward since 2007 and have yet to recover, according to Gallup’s data.

Gallup said that this is the case even as it reports improvements in recent years in many of its economic measures on employment, hiring, economic confidence and consumer spending. The recent survey indicates that one reason for this might be that small business owners tend to favor the lifestyle and self-sufficiency that comes with being one’s own boss, leading them to feel satisfied even when they don’t see themselves as being particularly successful.

Forty-two percent of small business owners said that the most rewarding thing about starting and running their own business is being their own boss and being the decision maker.

This was followed by 17 percent who said that the most rewarding thing was job satisfaction and sense of accomplishment, 12 percent who indicated that it was being able to work their own schedule and having flexibility, and 11 percent who said it was the interaction with customers, among other factors.

Gallup also asked small business owners about their motivations for opening their own business, and the top choice among respondents was securing their financial future (69 percent). Being their own boss (66 percent) and setting their own hours (51 percent) also were popular answers.

The less popular answers included having a source of income until the job market improves (30 percent), taking advantage of new business opportunities in the marketplace (29 percent) and continuing the family business (26 percent).

Even with the increasing level of satisfaction, small business owners still