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Government also tends to distinguish between lifestyle businesses, those that seek a comfortable target income, and those that are growth oriented. But defining lifestyle as no growth and having a lifestyle orientation are not necessarily the same thing. We know that a high proportion of the self-employed and micro-enterprises do not wish to grow their businesses. But our research shows that if you ask owner-managers whether they have a lifestyle orientation, there is no necessary impact on subsequent growth and profitability.

We also found that having a growth orientation substantially increases the likelihood of achieving growth but that having a profit orientation does not necessarily result in increased profit. However, while 60 per cent of those surveyed had some growth orientation, a smaller proportion actually achieved growth, therefore indicating the importance of other external and internal barriers. We also …