Owning a business—and then hiring employees for it—could improve your life, according to new research from Gallup that found that business owner-employers who hire others have higher levels of wellbeing, wealth, work engagement and life evaluation.
Owner-employers scored a 67% on “thriving in well-being,” compared to 52% in non-employer owners, 51% in employees and 48% in self-employed workers. These entrepreneurs also tend to be richer, with the report sharing that the median income of employer-firm owners is $110,000, compared to $24,000 for non-employer owners, and their median assets are four times as much.
“The relative differences in income and wealth between non-employer owners and owner-employers in these data are consistent with the U.S. government’s leading source for the analysis of wealth—the Survey of Consumer Finances (SCF),” the report said. “A Gallup analysis of the 2022 SCF also finds that median household income is approximately twice as high for owner-employers as non-employer owners.”
Additionally, 75% of owner-employers reported high levels of work engagement—as defined by the belief that their opinions count, they get to do what they think they do best, they are allowed to be creative, and they get along with colleagues—compared to 68% of non-employer owners and 51% of employees.
