Personality correlates of self-employed small business owners' success

OBJECTIVE: Drawing on prior occupational choice research on entrepreneurs and self-employed business owners, we examined personality predictors of their occupational business success and work satisfaction. PARTICIPANTS AND PROCEDURES: A sample of 147 small business owners completed a web-based assessment of 14work-related personality traits - Adaptability, Autonomy, Competitiveness, Dependability, Emotional Resilience, Goal-Setting, Optimism, Persistence, Risk Tolerance, Self-Promotion, Networking, and Tolerance for Financial Insecurity, Work-Based Locus of Control, and Work Drive - and three self-reported indices of business success - revenue growth, profit growth, and income growth - as well as multiple facets of individual satisfaction. Criterion variables included composite business success and overall satisfaction. RESULTS: Ten traits correlated with business success. The top four personality predictors of success - Goal-Setting, Social Networking, Emotional Resilience, and Work Drive - together accounted for 16% of the variance. Similarly, 12 of 14 personality traits were positively related to overall satisfaction. The top three personality predictors of satisfaction - Optimism, Work-based Locus of Control, and Work Drive - accounted for 29% of the variability in satisfaction. An expectancy analysis revealed that the percent of participants who reported at least a 20% increase in sales and profits the preceding year was 26% versus 54% for individual scoring in the lower and upper third of a personality composite measure. CONCLUSIONS: Results carry implications for future research, and have direct, practical applications for prospective and current entrepreneurs and self-employed owners of small businesses.