The survey also reveals exactly how small and medium sized business owners (SMEs) spend their time and how satisfied they are with their work-life balance.

The findings are contained in a Suncorp SME vs Me Report, which surveyed around 500 business owners ranging from sole traders to those with up 199 employees and across a variety of different industry sectors.

Suncorp Regional Manager, April Cavanagh said the results showed just how valuable time was to the nation’s SME owners how hard they are working to maintain and grow their businesses.

“The average SME owner works 41 hours per week regardless of whether they are receiving payments from their business,” Ms Cavanagh said.

“However, 16 percent of owners told us they work between 60 and 80 hours a week and a further 6 percent actually work 80 hours or more.

“Despite the hard work, business owners were generally satisfied with their work-life balance with only around one in 10 SMEs reporting a low sense of satisfaction.

“These results highlight the level of commitment and time required to run your own business and also suggest that the majority of SMEs are reasonably satisfied with the lifestyle that comes with business ownership.”

The Suncorp SME vs Me Report also looked at how much time business owners spend working “in” their business in comparison with working “on” their business.

It found SME owners on average spend 69 percent of their time working in the business and only 31 percent working on developing and growing their business. Those with more than 10 years’ tenure spend the most time working in the business (74 percent) while SME owners with less than three years in business spend the most time working on their business (37 percent).

More than half those surveyed would not spend any more time working on their business given the option, however, one third wanted to spend more time on their marketing/business plan and/or developing new products.

Ms Cavanagh said it was critical for business owners to find sufficient time to focus on managing their businesses and planning for the future.

“While there is no doubt business owners are working hard, it is also important to be working on the right things to ensure the profitability and longevity of their businesses,” he said.

“One way to free up more time is to investigate ways to automate or outsource common business tasks, such as bookkeeping, tracking key metrics and even office cleaning.

“This would not only help to relieve some of the operational pressure on the business owner but also provide more time for them to prioritise their health, wellbeing and work-life balance.”