What Kind of Business Owner or Entrepreneur Are You?

CRM giant Infusionsoft recently ran a survey of entrepreneurs and small business owners in America and, despite similarities of age, income, education, niche, company size, or region, they found significant differences in the “types” of business owners that dominate the market.

Working with Audience Audit™, a research provider that specializes in attitudinal segmentation, the company was able to divide business owner, and entrepreneur, “types” into four categories based on their attitude toward various questions about why they do what they do, how they feel that small business is perceived, and received, in the marketplace, and how their businesses are served by vendors.

An interesting report, these are the four main “types” of business owners and entrepreneurs that Infusionsoft discovered in their research:

Legacy Builders

Legacy Builders are those who started their business to bring something unique, innovative, and fresh to the market place. These are the folks who had the desire to create a business that would secure their future and that of their families. These people feel that small businesses are ethical and fundamental to the economy. They are practical, insightful and aggressive.

Freedom Seekers

Freedom Seekers are entrepreneurs who value control and freedom; these business owners want flexibility and dominion over their decisions, their schedules, their work environments and their professional future. These professionals are focused on living a life by design; not one of default. They have the flexibility to do what they love and they value that above all else; most Freedom Seekers say they would never return to the corporate world.

Passionate Creators

Passionate Creators are invested in developing something unique, making a difference in their communities and the world at large, and driving economic growth. They are significantly more optimistic than other “types”, and the most likely to say that working for themselves has added to the development of their overall attitude, time freedom, and financial security given that they have the ability to succeed or not, based on what they do themselves. These people feel powerful, not powerless.

This segment believes that Passion is one of the most significant qualities of a small business owner.

Struggling Survivors

Business owners in this segment value many aspects of small business ownership, but are concerned about the risks and obstacles involved. They often report that they feel that traditional jobs are more secure than entrepreneurship and are more likely to consider closing up shop; many went so far as to say that “you have to be a little crazy to start a business”.

These folks are more apt to report time and focus challenges. They are the least likely to have experienced an improvement in financial security as a result of owning their own business.

An extensive and fascinating report, this review of small business owners and entrepreneurs is pretty revealing; where do you fit in?