Balancing Work & Home: Small Businesses Taking Care Of Business

Toronto, ON - A recent Ipsos Reid survey conducted on behalf of RBC Royal Bank asked small business owners about balancing work and home life.

While almost two in five (39 percent) of Canadian small business owners feel that they are able to balance their work and home life very well, three in five (61 percent) feel that there is room for improvement.

When asked what they would most likely do if they had one "extra" hour each day almost three in five (58 percent) indicated that they would spend it with their spouse or family (32 percent), take time to relax (16 percent) or get caught up on personal-related matters (10 percent). Interestingly, over one third (31 percent) said that they would use it for business-related tasks including prospecting new customers (11 percent) and developing business skills (5 percent).

To help with managing their time Canadian small business owners indicated that they have used online bill payments (48 percent), reviewed and conducted banking transactions online (39 percent), filed their taxes online (37 percent), downloaded banking information into financial software applications (21 percent) and sent e-mail money transfers to make immediate payments to suppliers for faster delivery (20 percent).

The top five pieces of advice small business owners have for other business owners about balancing their work and home life: take time for yourself and your family (31 percent), set clear boundaries between work and home (30 percent), put family and home life first (15 percent), set realistic business goals and benchmarks (13 percent) and efficiently manage your time at work (12 percent).

Other findings about Canadian small business owners are as follows:

These are the findings of an Ipsos Reid online survey of 2,032 Canadian small business owners 18 years of age or older (158 from Atlantic Canada, 321 from Quebec, 792 from Ontario, 398 from Prairie Provinces and 363 from British Columbia). With a sample of this size, the results are considered accurate to within 1772.2 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, of what would have been, had this entire population been polled. Regional results are considered accurate within 1777.8 percentage points for Atlantic Canada (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland & Labrador), 1775.5 percentage points for Quebec, 1773.5 percentage points for Ontario, 1774.9 percentage points for Prairie provinces (Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba) and 1775.1 percentage points for British Columbia. The online survey was conducted between August 4, 2005 and August 14, 2006.

Almost two in five (39 percent) of Canadian small business owners feel that they are able to balance their work and home life very well

The work life balance for small business owners in the various Canadian regions are as follows:

Almost three in five (58 percent) of Canadian small business said they would spend time with their spouse or family with one "extra" hour

Regional responses for small business owners if they were given an "extra" hour:

From one business owner to the next: Top five pieces of advice to other small business owners...

The top five pieces of advice for other business owners:

For more information on this news release, please contact:
Ray Kong
Ipsos Reid
(416) 324-2106
[email protected]

Ipsos Reid
Ipsos Reid is Canada's market intelligence leader, the country's leading provider of public opinion research, and research partner for loyalty and forecasting and modelling insights. With operations in eight cities, Ipsos Reid employs more than 300 research professionals and support staff in Canada. The company has the biggest network of telephone call centres in the country, as well as the largest pre-recruited household and online panels. Ipsos Reid's marketing research and public affairs practices offer the premier suite of research vehicles in Canada, all of which provide clients with actionable and relevant information. Staffed with seasoned research consultants with extensive industry-specific backgrounds, Ipsos Reid offers syndicated information or custom solutions across key sectors of the Canadian economy, including consumer packaged goods, financial services, automotive, retail, and technology & telecommunications. Ipsos Reid is an Ipsos company, a leading global survey-based market research group.

To learn more, please visit www.ipsos.ca.

Ipsos
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