Finding Time to Take a Vacation Is a Struggle for Most Small Business Owners

NEW YORK, August 13, 2014 – OnDeck (www.ondeck.com), the technology-powered Main Street lender, today released findings of its summer Main Street Pulse Report, a quarterly study of small business trends. The report examined vacation habits of small business owners nationwide, revealing that most are increasingly time-strapped and unable to take vacation.

Key findings of the study included:

Approximately half of small business owners take vacations – Only 57 percent of small business owners are planning to take a vacation this year.
Small business owners take very few vacation days – 61 percent of those planning a vacation will take just five business days off per year, compared to 10 business days of vacation the average person employed by corporate America gets annually.¹
Most don’t unplug from work while on vacation – 67 percent check in with work at least once per day. Only 15 percent will disconnect entirely.
Most business owners don’t take vacation the first 10 years in business – Only 47 percent of business owners that have been open for less than 10 years will take a vacation, compared to 70 percent of owners in business more than 10 years that will take a vacation.
Having more employees eases the load – 63 percent of owners with 6-10 employees take vacations versus 42 percent of owners who are self-employed.
Doctors make vacation a higher priority than other industries – 67 percent of the doctors surveyed make taking a vacation this summer a priority, versus just 50 percent of service providers. Although more doctors will be taking vacations, 75% of them will check in with their office at least once, while only 30% of service providers do the same.

“We’ve always known that small businesses don’t have the same resources that big businesses do, a major gap that makes small business owners’ time so valuable,” said Andrea Gellert, senior vice president of marketing, OnDeck. “This quarter’s Main Street Pulse Report and our Economic Impact Study from earlier this year signal how necessary it is to create time-saving solutions for small business owners so that they can invest in their businesses and themselves.”

The study is based on data gathered by OnDeck from over 200 current small business owners across a variety of industries.

For more information and to view a summary of our study, please visit: www.OnDeck.com/Vacation-Study.

About OnDeck
Launched in 2007, OnDeck uses data aggregation and electronic payment technology to evaluate the financial health of small and medium sized businesses and efficiently deliver capital to a market underserved by banks. Through the OnDeck platform, millions of small businesses can obtain affordable loans with a fraction of the time and effort that it takes through traditional channels. The company’s proprietary credit models look deeper into the health of businesses, focusing on overall business performance, rather than the owner’s personal credit history. The OnDeck system also provides a critically needed mechanism for financial institutions and other business service providers to efficiently reach the Main Street small business market.

OnDeck has deployed more than $1 billion in capital to tens of thousands of businesses across approximately 700 different industries. The company was recently named #11 on Forbes’ 100 Most Promising Companies in America list and was listed on the Inc. 500/5000 for a second year in a row. OnDeck also has earned an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau. The company is financed by some of the nation’s leading venture capital firms, including Google Ventures, SAP Ventures, RRE Ventures, Institutional Venture Partners and Tiger Global.

For more information, please visit: www.ondeck.com. Follow OnDeck on Twitter @OnDeckCapital

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