Does happiness lead to business success?
Small business owners are the focus of QUT research aiming to discover if those who are happy are more successful than those who are not.
Researcher Jenna Campton wants to find out how the personal motivations of small business owners influence their intentions to continue their business and ultimately impact on their success.
"The research aims to help small business owners identify the extent to which their personal motivations impact on the way they develop business goals and strategies," Ms Campton, a PhD candidate and Sessional Academic in QUT's School of Management, said.
"Running a small business can be a thankless and stressful task, and I want to uncover how that impacts on a small business owners' wellbeing and mental health.
"For example, a business owner who earns a lot of money and has financial success may risk their personal wellbeing to ensure goals are met."
Ms Campton said she was inspired to investigate the success of businesses as the majority of her family are small business owners.
"From the incredible passion my family members have for their businesses, I wanted to find out what role passion and other motivations play in the continuation of a small business," she said.
"Do happy and healthy business owners lead to business continuation? And what actually motivates people to be in business?
"Typically, the success of a business is measured through how much money it makes, which rarely includes other aspects like passion and personal motivations.
"The findings are expected to help small business owners to better align their personal motivations with their business goals and help investors recognise the values of passion in motivations in influencing the lifespans of small businesses."
Australian small business owners, aged from 18 to 65, who own a business with up to 19 employees are invited to take part in a two-part research survey, which takes about 20 minutes.
Participants could win one of three $100 VISA gift cards after completing the second part of the survey.
The survey is available here: https://survey.qut.edu.au/f/181160/140f/
Media contact:
Rob Kidd, QUT Media, 07 3138 1841, rj.kidd@qut.edu.au
After hours, Rose Trapnell, 0407 585 901
