Which Australian business owners work the hardest?

If you’re thinking of starting up a business in the transport and storage sector, better warn your family that they will be seeing a bit less of you for a while.

If you’re thinking of starting up a business in the transport and storage sector, better warn your family that they will be seeing a bit less of you for a while.

The reason? Small business owners in the transport and storage sectors are Australia’s hardest working, according to an MYOB survey of 1600 small business owners conducted in June.

Of the business proprietors surveyed in the transport and storage industry, 13% said they work more than 12 hours a day on average, more than in any other sector. A further 43% said they work between 10 and 12 hours a day.

The accommodation, café and restaurant sector is the next hardest working, with 7% reporting 12-hour-plus days, and 50% working between 10 and 12 hours.

And the least busy small business owners? Those in the finance and insurance sector, where 5% of proprietors report working an average 12 hour days and 20% between 10 and 12 hours. The majority, 57%, work a relatively average six to nine hour day.

Overall, however, small business owners are more likely to put in long hours than the general working population. Almost 35% say they work more than 50 hours a week on average. Just on 30% say they usually put in a six-day working week, while for 16% a seven-day week is the norm.

And it doesn’t get any easier the bigger you get. Businesses with nil or just one employee were most likely to work an average six to nine hour day, while those with five to nine employees put in a 12-hour-plus day most often.

Read more on small business trends