How Much Free Time Small Business Owners Sacrifice for Running Their Own Business

Running a business can be a satisfying, yet challenging activity. A recent survey conducted by GoDaddy and One Poll in the U.S. showed just how much time small business owners spend worrying about their businesses—17 full days a year, or four hours every week, or over 34 minutes everyday.

This is on top of the hours small business owners actually devote to running their business, and of the time they may be worrying about other aspects of their lives. It is no wonder then that the survey also showed that most small business owners—71%—report persistent challenges to having a healthy work-life balance.

In addition to making enough money (54%) and attracting and retaining customers (45% and 35%, respectively), small business owners worry over having enough time for all the things on their plate. They sacrifice a big chunk of their personal time to tend to their customers and multi-task on various aspects of the business. Fifty-one percent (51%) of small business owners admit that they have trouble “switching off” from work during their free time while 41% say that they often get pulled away to deal with business matters while trying to take a break.

What makes switching off especially difficult is the fact that many small business owners use their personal phones for business—over 85% use only one phone for both personal and business calls. This is driven by the consensus among them that responding to customer inquiries in a timely manner (81%) and answering calls professionally (64%) are crucial to retaining and finding customers. Twenty-six percent (26%), however, noted that having a dedicated number for all business matters is important to being perceived as a legitimate business owner.

Seeing how much their customers rely on themselves and their personal technology for business matters inspired GoDaddy to shape solutions that can help small business owners stay organized and work more efficiently. In the past couple of years, GoDaddy has developed updates to their line of online tools and solutions from adding new features for its Website Builder or developing SSL Certificate as a security tool for new businesses.

“GoDaddy empowers everyday entrepreneurs and small business owners with tools and solutions, as well as provides helpful guidance, to provide a convenient and efficient way to grow and manage their businesses online,” shares Tina Shieh, Marketing Director for GoDaddy Asia.

“Our online tools and solutions paired with GoDaddy guidance gives entrepreneurs the opportunity to build and grow their businesses with ease, helping to transform their ideas into professionally run organizations able to deliver not only business results but also to help support healthy balanced lifestyles for their owners.”