2. Wave Small Business Report, Summer 2012
The life of a small business owner
Control. Flexibility. The ability to play out a hunch or follow a dream. Small business
owners reap great non-monetary rewards by being their own bosses. But they’re well
aware of the trade-offs: variable income, long hours, strained work/life balance and more.
Here’s a look at the life of a North American small business owner in 2012.
For all the stresses of running a business, an amazing 86%
of small business owners love what they do for a living, and
82% say the rewards far outweigh the challenges. They’re
committed to their path, too, with 56% answering “Never!”
to the question: “Would you ever go back to working for
someone else?”
That’s likely due in part to their independent spirit: The most
common reason for going into business for themselves is
“being the boss/the decision maker,” a factor shared by
57% of respondents.
Does a bad economy drive entrepreneurship? 15% of small
business owners said they launched their own endeavor
after finding themselves unemployed and unable to find
work. More significantly, for businesses launched more
than 6 years ago (pre-recession) only 9% pointed to
unemployment as a factor; for businesses started in the last
12 months, that number doubles to 18%.
Responses seem to suggest that government efforts to
encourage small businesses are falling flat: Only 2% of
respondents said government incentives fed the decision to
go into business for themselves.
A full 50% of respondents underestimated just how hard
being their own boss could be. Luckily, only 4% of them
would have abandoned their plans to go into business if
they had known the difficulties in advance.
What are the most common challenges faced by small
business owners in 2012? The combination of time management and work/life balance takes top spot, with two thirds
(66%) of business owners struggling in one or both of these arenas. 43% of Wave logins, for instance, take place outside
of traditional business hours (i.e., from 6 p.m. through the overnight hours to 9 a.m.), and 1 in 5 logins take place over
the weekend, suggesting that many small business owners put off administrative tasks like accounting and bookkeeping
until after the revenue-generating workday ends.
Infographics and additional report details available at waveaccounting.com/small-business 2

3. Wave Small Business Report, Summer 2012
Cloudy past, sunny future — mostly
Just how bad has the last year been for small businesses? Nearly half (48%) of respondents
said their business didn’t earn enough for their families’ needs. Cost of doing business
(38%) and changes in customer spending (30%) as well as competition (27%) were the most
commonly cited challenges in the past year.
“
Nonetheless, only 23% were dissatisfied with their business’s performance in the last
year, suggesting business owners had a realistic expectation of what the economic
climate had in store. I didn’t realize
More than three quarters of those surveyed said their businesses at least met (37%) if
not exceeded (40%) their expectations in the last 12 months.
how much
government
“
“
As for the future, business owners appear to believe either that the economic recovery red tape
is underway, or that they have what it takes to overcome current obstacles. Four out of takes away
5 respondents see a bright future for their business. 66% of owners my profits.
consider their businesses to be in a growth phase, and encouragingly A Wave customer, on the
My clients
have become
more than just
clients—they’ve
become friends.
“ only 8% think their businesses are in decline.
Many small businesses have aggressive plans, with nearly three quarters
(73%) planning on expanding their product offerings or initiating new
marketing campaigns in the year to come.
not-so-good surprises of
owning a small business
Small businesses will continue to be drivers of new employment. A quarter of the businesses
surveyed see themselves hiring additional employees in the coming year.
A Wave customer, on the
good surprises of owning
a small business North American small business owners are also twice as likely to outsource work locally than
they are to send work overseas (18% vs. 9%) in the near future.
Infographics and additional report details available at waveaccounting.com/small-business 3

4. Wave Small Business Report, Summer 2012
Canadian pragmatism vs. American optimism?
No surprise here, Canadian and American small business owners generally think and act the
same. They both love what they do for a living (85% in Canada vs. 86% in the U.S.). And being
their own boss is the number one motivator for both groups.
That’s not to say that they endure the same business conditions. The recession hit U.S. small businesses
harder: 34% of American business owners think the sluggish economy is a problem for them, vs. 21% of
Canadian business owners.
Though U.S. businesses had a tougher time in the recent past, they also see the future through rosier glasses.
In fact, for every measure of optimism and pessimism on which they didn’t score the same, American business
owners were more extreme in their assessments than Canadians, pointing to higher highs and lower lows.
Among U.S. respondents, 47% strongly agree that they see a bright future for their own company. Canadians
are more muted, coming in at 38%. At the same time, 43% of Americans think the next 12 months will be
harder for small businesses in general; only 34% of Canadians felt that way.
When asked to rate their business’s performance over the last 12 months, U.S. business owners were much
more likely to give themselves a 9 or 10 out of 10. Americans did so at a rate of 20%, vs. 14% in Canada. We
asked business owners whether they were able to earn enough in the last 12 months to meet their families’
needs. In Canada, 38% did not — a number well short of the U.S. figure of 52%.
*METHODOLOGY
This report was compiled with information from two sources: data analysis from Wave Accounting, and a survey. To ensure privacy, Wave data consisted of aggregate
information only with no personally identifiable details. The survey was conducted online with Wave customers, between April 17 and April 30, 2012. The final sample size
was 1,386, resulting in a margin of error of +/-2.6%, 19 times out of 20.
Infographics and additional report details available at waveaccounting.com/small-business 4