Recent Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index data collected in the first eight months of 2009 had some surprising and some expected results when announced last week. Taking the top spot as the happiest occupation? Being self-employed/business owner. This was a bit surprising coming off the heels of another poll last month, which found self-employed people work more hours than any other profession. But at the same time it makes sense. Being your own boss, working your own hours, and for many self-employed individuals those long hours are worked from home.
This is good news especially since under the current economy being self-employed is looking better and better. The U.S. Census Bureau reports that the number of self-employed individuals is on the rise. The census reported that in 2007 the number of businesses without employees (self-employed individuals) grew 4.5 percent to 21.7 million. They also reported that m ore than 19 million (88 percent) were sole propietorships, 1.4 million were corporations, and 1.2 million were partnerships.
You can see where your profession ranked in the poll here.
So if you’ve been thinking about leaving your office job to go into business for yourself, now may be a good time to think about it. Based on research,
- You won’t be alone.
- You’ll be working horrible hours.
- You’ll be working those hours happily.
[...] If you’re thinking about going into business for yourself 2010 just might be the year to do it. There are many pros and cons to becoming self-employed but with a less than stellar job market, looking at other possibilities is a wise move. We’ve offered tips on being self employed before on the blog and how research suggests that self-employed people are the happiest people. [...]