All in all, it seems as though small business owners really do have a health advantage over other workers. According to a recent Gallup Poll, small business owners or entrepreneurs have a distinct advantage over other workers when it comes to four of the primary health factors: obesity, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and diabetes. For the most part, entrepreneurs lead healthier lifestyles as well by exercising more and eating healthier. The one area where other workers are taking better care of themselves, in this regard, is on the issue of smoking as 18 percent of other workers smoke and 19 percent of entrepreneurs smoke.
Why are Small Business Owners Healthier?
The one prevailing thought on this is that those who are self-employed are better able to set their own schedules than those who work on someone else’s timeline. This means they can make their health club appointments or work healthy meals into their days—no matter how busy, because they can do it on their timelines.
There is more to it, of course. It takes discipline to start and operate your own business. The same discipline may very well be used in other areas of the lives of small business owners for the sake of better health and healthier lifestyle decisions. The surprising discovery of the Gallup poll mentioned above is that it found that even without costly health insurance coverage they are enjoying better health than their counterparts who have those expensive health insurance plans with no time or energy to make use of them.
Health and Wellness Programs
Most small businesses, at this point in time, do not offer health and wellness programs to their employees though 93 percent of those who responded to a recent Humana study believe that the mental and physical health of employees are instrumental in the financial success of their businesses. Surprisingly though, the study found that the primary factor impacting the decisions of business owners who do not currently offer health and wellness programs is employee interest (or lack thereof) rather than the expense of these programs.
Another surprise from the Humana study is the revelation that it’s the startup companies (companies that have been in business for less than ten years) that are leading the way when it comes to wellness programs. Nearly 63 percent of them have adopted wellness programs already.
Small business owners are taking their health and the health of their employees more and more seriously each day. However, no matter how healthy your employees seem to be, it’s important for you to have adequate workers’ compensation insurance to ensure your employees are covered if the worst ever does happen.
