X
Innovation

U.K. entrepreneurs work less than European business owners

Are British business owners lax in comparison to their European counterparts?
Written by Charlie Osborne, Contributing Writer

A new survey suggests that British entrepreneurs and small business owners work less hours on average than those in the U.S., Germany, France, the Netherlands and Spain.

Funded by insurance provider Hiscox, the survey of 500 small businesses in the six countries found that U.K. entrepreneurs worked on average 37.6 hours a week in comparison to an overall average of 41 hours.

However, German business owners took the most days off, followed by British bosses with 21.4 days a year on average.

In terms of optimism for market stability in the coming years, of the 3,000 entrepreneurs polled, 38 percent they were feeling positive, which is down from 48 percent a year ago. Small business owners and startups in the United Kingdom said it was difficult to find funding for ventures, and only one in 10 plan to take on new staff in 2014.

Bronek Masojada, chief executive of the business insurer Hiscox commented:

"Our research findings support the idea that small businesses are adapting to 'the new normal', anticipating tough trading conditions rather than expecting any early return to the boom years of the last decade."

According to a report released last month by consultancy firm RSM, if you're looking to become a European business owner in today's climate, France may be the place to go. Thanks to a program called Auto Entrepreneur which simplifies business rules and offers lucrative tax breaks for new ventures, France registered 562,000 new businesses from 2007 to 2011.

Via: BBC

Image credit: Flickr

This post was originally published on Smartplanet.com

Editorial standards