Survey: Small-business owners resilient

Although consumer confidence is down nationwide, a new survey of small-business owners finds that 87 percent don’t regret their decision to go into business for themselves and would do it over again if they had to.

The survey by PayCycle, an online payroll service, found just 10 percent were unsure if they would start a business again, and 3 percent said they would not.

More than two-thirds said they started their own business because they wanted the freedom to work for themselves. Six percent said they started their businesses because they had been laid off, while 5 percent were continuing a family business. Twenty-two percent cited a variety of other reasons, including wanting to be more available to family, the desire to work with a nonprofit and running a side business to supplement income.

Among the challenges facing small-business owners:

* Twenty-nine percent cited finding good employees.
* Twenty-six percent cited dealing with legal and accounting issues.
* Twenty-one percent cited finding customers.
* Sixteen percent cited finding funding as the biggest challenge faced when starting their businesses.

The survey, conducted between Jan. 27 and Feb. 2, was compiled from responses by 478 small businesses randomly selected from PayCycle’s more than 75,000 small-business customers.