Does owning a small business actually improve your sex life? Or worse, does it make you more likely to get a divorce? In honor of Valentine’s Day, Manta, the largest online community dedicated to small business, polled more than 1,000 small business owners to reveal what happens when you mix love and business.
Here’s what they found:
More than one-fourth of the business owners polled worked with their significant other or spouse in the business. Of those, more than half (57 percent) said they would recommend it to other business owners, and 42 percent said there was nothing they disagreed on about running their business together. Of those who did disagree, work-life balance (20 percent) and money (18 percent) were the top bones of contention.
As a result of owning a small business, 32 percent of respondents say their family life or relationships have actually improved—but only 1 percent said their sex life had. If you’re starting a business to get rich, think twice since only 7 percent said their finances have improved. Work-life balance improved for 17 percent of respondents.
What do small business owners love most—their businesses or their families and significant others? Personal relationships were valued more by 44 percent while 43 percent say they value relationships and their business equally. Just 13 percent value their business more than personal relationships.
Similarly, 80 percent rated friends and family as “most important,” but 43 percent valued the financial success of their business as “most important,” too. Those numbers don’t quite add up, clearly small business owners are struggling to balance relationships and business, with relationships still weighing higher in the balance.
One area that was less important: Their sex lives, which small business owners rated somewhere in the middle on the importance scale. Thirteen percent said it was the least important factor in their lives. Maybe it’s the same 13 percent who say their business is the most important thing in their lives?
