(February 28, 2019) A survey released yesterday by the financial services company Kabbage, Inc.. reveals the negative impact of managing cash flow on the workload, personal life and take-home pay of small business owners. The survey of 500 successful business owners (have run their business for an average of 10.5 years) reveals that 51 percent of small business owners have not paid themselves for multiple, consecutive months to control the cash flow in their business. Here are some of the results of the survey.

26% | Percentage of business owners who have gone two to six months without paying themselves
25% | Have gone over six months without a paycheck.

The stress and strain of cash flow concerns

63% | Percentage of owners who regularly stressed or have anxiety due to cash flow concerns
35% | Often lose sleep or have difficulty sleeping
42% | Have sacrificed much of their social life and personal hobbies
32% | Say their family life suffers
91% | Spend as much as 20 hours per week on cash flow management (payroll, invoicing and purchasing inventory).

What would small business owners do if all cash-flow tasks were eliminated?

51% | Invest more time in sales and marketing to drive new business
35% | Further develop their products and services, saying they have new ideas but no time to focus on them.
32% | Spend more time with family, friends and community
30% | Focus more time on customer service
22% | Use the time on hiring and mentoring their employees
22% | Investigate new technologies and business systems to make their company more efficient

Source: Kabbage, Inc.

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