Survey: Small business satisfaction p1 - Military - Start Your Own Business - Military Times Edge

Do you have employees in your small business? While almost no one talks about the benefits of being an employer, you're probably gaining a lot from having made the decision to hire.

In results of a new survey released exclusively to me and USA TODAY, small-business employers overwhelmingly reported satisfaction from having employees, and in perhaps one of the most intriguing findings, the more employees a small company has, the more satisfied the owner is.

This week, Intuit released two new reports at a Small Business Town Hall session held at the Nasdaq Center in New York, which I hosted. I conducted an in-depth session with 15 articulate small-business owners from the New York area, whose businesses covered a range of industries and business stage - from brand-new startups to those that had been in existence for more than 20 years.

Simultaneously, Intuit released two studies giving insight into both the actual behavior of small-business employers and how small-business owners are feeling:

• Small Business Employment Index: statistics based on actual payroll data of 55,000 small-business employers who use Intuit Online Payroll.

• Small Business Survey: a survey of small-business owners as to their attitudes about the current economy.

First, there's good news for the economy in the Employment Index. Traditionally, small-business hiring is a leading economic indicator, so the fact that small business is slowly increasing bodes well for employment generally. While the percentage increase in small-business hiring is very slight - less than 1 percent in April over March - the trend has been consistently upward from June 2009. Statistically, it indicates that the firing is well behind us and small businesses are very, very cautiously beginning to add staff.

Moreover, both the number of hours worked per employee in small businesses and the average compensation increased - each by almost a half percent in just one month, which is quite a large amount (6 percent annualized). This, too, means that hiring is likely to continue to increase as small businesses are likely to add employees to help out their overworked staff or to reduce the amount of overtime compensation they're now paying.

Next, the Small Business survey reflected the attitudes of owners of businesses from one to 20 employees on a range of topics. The one that interested me most was the one about how they feel about being an employer. After all, as every small business owner will tell you, there are some days the stress of having to meet payroll is tough. What do they get out of it in return?

A resounding majority reported great satisfaction from many aspects of having employees. These were the found to be most beneficial:

65 percent — gets jobs done that I can't do myself

63 percent — enables me to grow my business

59 percent — gives me pride knowing I've created good jobs

56 percent — creates a sense of team

46 percent — generates new ideas for my business

46 percent — friendships I've developed with my staff

19 percent — shares the burden of decision making

Perhaps one of the most intriguing findings of Intuit's Small Business Survey is that the more employees a small business has, the more satisfied the business owner is. In particular, larger employers linked their employees overwhelmingly (70 percent) to the growth of their business and gives the owner pride in knowing they've created good jobs.

Here's what the results were from those who have two to 10 employees versus those with 11-20:

Two to 10 employees:

57 percent — gets jobs done that I can't do myself

48 percent — enables me to grow my business

43 percent — gives me pride knowing I've created good jobs

50 percent — creates a sense of team

40 percent — generates new ideas for my business

35 percent — friendships I've developed with my staff

16 percent — shares the burden of decision making

11-20 employees:

66 percent — gets jobs done that I can't do myself

70 percent — enables me to grow my business

67 percent — gives me pride knowing I've created good jobs

59 percent — creates a sense of team

47 percent — generates new ideas for my business

51 percent — friendships I've developed with my staff

20 percent — shares the burden of decision making

So, if you're on the fence about hiring, take a look at how existing small employers benefit. Growth, pride, productivity, friendships. Those are just a few of the satisfactions of becoming an employer.