Guess What? Entrepreneurs Like Being Their Own Boss

Entrepreneurs have to deal with the difficulties and frustrations that come with trying to run their own business. But going that route brings the big benefit of being your own boss. Self-employed people have more power to decide when and how they want to work and to what extent they want work to dominate their lives in general. So it's no surprise that a survey out this week from the Hudson Employment Index finds that "work-life balance and flexibility" is the No. 1 reason entrepreneurs have accepted their current position, with a third placing it as their top reason.

But what is more surprising is that American workers overall agree with entrepreneurs that a job's flexibility and ability to blend work and life are more important than other factors, even income. The survey results for total workers are remarkably similar to the results for entrepreneurs. The number of total workers who named "work-life balance and flexibility" as the reason they accepted their current job is 29 percent. Compensation is No. 2 at 23 percent. The same proportion of entrepreneurs also identified compensation as the reason.

The survey, conducted in cooperation with Rasmussen Reports, polled 1,634 workers across the country January 26 and 27. These were workers who had been with their company for less than five years.