Entrepreneurs with families are not the absent fathers they’re often thought to be, according to Business.com’s recent survey conducted in time for Father’s Day, June 18. The survey is a snapshot of today’s business owners with children that Business.com is calling “fatherpreneurs.”
“Small businesses and entrepreneurship are alive and well in the U.S., with one of the driving factors being the ability for entrepreneurs to spend more time with their families,” said Business.com CEO and founder Jake Winebaum, and father of two. “We felt there was a new generation of business leaders who understand the need to balance the demands of running their own companies with the importance of spending time with their families, and our survey confirms this trend.”
The online survey showed that fatherpreneurs are motivated by three equal factors when deciding to start a business: the ability to be financially successful (18.6 percent); to the feeling of accomplishment that comes with building something (18 percent), and finally; the ability to do all of this while spending more time with their families (17.7 percent). In fact, nearly 80 percent of the entrepreneurs surveyed reported that they had more or the same amount of time with their families despite the challenges of starting and running their own businesses. Only 21.6 percent said they had less time.
“Conventional wisdom says that families of entrepreneurs suffer when mom or dad are running a company. But the majority of those we surveyed were very satisfied and seemed to be keeping a healthy balance,” Winebaum observed.
The Business.com survey also revealed that, as bosses, fatherpreneurs bring a nurturing management style to their workplace as well as to their homes. Employees of entrepreneurial businesses who responded to the survey said that the founder/owners of their companies displayed father-like qualities including leadership (23 percent), patience (15 percent), mentoring (12 percent), and being protective (9.6 percent). Only 11.6 percent saw their boss’s management style as “strict.”
Fatherpreneurs, the report indicated, see themselves belonging to two families, a work family and a home family — but the home family still clearly ranks as the number one priority. “Fifty-nine percent of founder/owners feel closest to their home family,” Winebaum said. “Only 14 percent said work came first while 27 percent ranked the two equally.”
Business.com’s survey also asked fatherpreneurs if they felt their “home family” or their “work family” was more dysfunctional. “The study found that 67 percent of founder/fathers perceived their work family to be more dysfunctional than their home family,” Winebaum noted. “Perhaps that’s because they often have another CEO helping out at home.”
Business.com surveyed 428 business owners who had to be founder/owners with children in this Father’s Day survey that it intends to repeat annually. The company regularly surveys its more than four million unique monthly visitors who are small business owners to spotlight issues and trends they face and the changes occurring that affect their business, social and family experiences.
Survey data was taken from a sample of the 4.5 Million unique monthly visitors to www.business.com, the leading B2B search engine for small business owners looking to solve their most pressing business problems and realize their most compelling opportunities.
Survey reveals new generation of “Fatherpreneurs” seeking to balance family and work.
Entrepreneurs with families are not the absent fathers they’re often thought to be, according to Business.com’s recent survey conducted in time for Father’s Day, June 18. The survey is a snapshot of today’s business owners with children that Business.com is calling “fatherpreneurs.”
“Small businesses and entrepreneurship are alive and well in the U.S., with one of the driving factors being the ability for entrepreneurs to spend more time with their families,” said Business.com CEO and founder Jake Winebaum, and father of two. “We felt there was a new generation of business leaders who understand the need to balance the demands of running their own companies with the importance of spending time with their families, and our survey confirms this trend.”
The online survey showed that fatherpreneurs are motivated by three equal factors when deciding to start a business: the ability to be financially successful (18.6 percent); to the feeling of accomplishment that comes with building something (18 percent), and finally; the ability to do all of this while spending more time with their families (17.7 percent). In fact, nearly 80 percent of the entrepreneurs surveyed reported that they had more or the same amount of time with their families despite the challenges of starting and running their own businesses. Only 21.6 percent said they had less time.
“Conventional wisdom says that families of entrepreneurs suffer when mom or dad are running a company. But the majority of those we surveyed were very satisfied and seemed to be keeping a healthy balance,” Winebaum observed.
The Business.com survey also revealed that, as bosses, fatherpreneurs bring a nurturing management style to their workplace as well as to their homes. Employees of entrepreneurial businesses who responded to the survey said that the founder/owners of their companies displayed father-like qualities including leadership (23 percent), patience (15 percent), mentoring (12 percent), and being protective (9.6 percent). Only 11.6 percent saw their boss’s management style as “strict.”
Fatherpreneurs, the report indicated, see themselves belonging to two families, a work family and a home family — but the home family still clearly ranks as the number one priority. “Fifty-nine percent of founder/owners feel closest to their home family,” Winebaum said. “Only 14 percent said work came first while 27 percent ranked the two equally.”
Business.com’s survey also asked fatherpreneurs if they felt their “home family” or their “work family” was more dysfunctional. “The study found that 67 percent of founder/fathers perceived their work family to be more dysfunctional than their home family,” Winebaum noted. “Perhaps that’s because they often have another CEO helping out at home.”
Business.com surveyed 428 business owners who had to be founder/owners with children in this Father’s Day survey that it intends to repeat annually. The company regularly surveys its more than four million unique monthly visitors who are small business owners to spotlight issues and trends they face and the changes occurring that affect their business, social and family experiences.
Survey data was taken from a sample of the 4.5 Million unique monthly visitors to www.business.com, the leading B2B search engine for small business owners looking to solve their most pressing business problems and realize their most compelling opportunities.
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