For many founders, independence comes with a price. We asked 295 UK founders how much of their pay and personal time they’ve given up, and whether it was worth it.
- 39% of founders earned under £25,000 a year from their business before making any personal sacrifices, close to what a full-time minimum wage worker takes home.
- Three-quarters (75%) of founders gave up part of their own salary in the past 12 months, with many also dipping into personal savings or taking on debt to keep the business going.
- Nine in ten founders also gave up personal time, hitting their hobbies, holidays and wellbeing, though many told us the sacrifice is still worth it if it has an end point.
Running your own business is supposed to be the route to independence and financial freedom. For many UK founders, the reality looks very different.
New Startups.co.uk survey data shows the largest share of founders (39%) earned under £25,000 a year from their business before making any personal sacrifices – close to what a full-time minimum wage worker takes home.
Then came the cuts. Three-quarters (75%) of founders gave up part of their own salary in the past 12 months, losing an average of £13,940, a 36% pay cut, while nine in ten also gave up personal time to keep their business running.
So what’s the full extent of what founders are giving up to stay afloat, and is it worth it? We surveyed 295 UK founders and spoke to business owners to find out.
Shock absorbers: how founders cover the cost of keeping the lights on
Founders may be the boss, but many are earning barely more than the people they’d hire, and then giving back part of that to keep the business alive.
The largest share of founders we surveyed (39%) earned less than £25,000 a year from their business before making any personal sacrifice, roughly in line with the £24,784 a full-time worker makes on the National Living Wage.
Across all 295 respondents, average earnings before any pay cuts were just £39,127, and only 9% of founders made more than £75,000. For most, the starting point is modest before anything goes wrong.
Anita Frost, founder of media company Green Bean Studios, says founder pay is rarely stable. “In these seasons, I’ve had to budget effectively and accept pay cuts, ranging from a 20% to 40% reduction, or even months with no take-home pay,” she tells us.
For early-stage founders, the cuts can go further. Jo Living, founder of leadership training company Aces High London, has cut her day job from five days a week to one, giving up 80% of her salary. “I’m not yet paying myself from Aces High, so right now I’m effectively working for free, and paying my suppliers more than I pay me,” she says.
Anna Davies, founder of digital and wellness platform OvaJoy, has put every penny of her savings into the business and hasn’t paid herself a salary. “You can be working harder than you’ve ever worked in your life, yet have less financial security than ever before.”
Our survey shows how common this is. Some 45% of founders dipped into personal savings in the last 12 months, 36% paid themselves less than the statutory minimum wage, and 23% took on personal debt to keep the business solvent. Just 20% made no personal financial sacrifices at all. Yet, the pay packet is only one of the things founders are putting on the line.
The hidden cost: evenings, weekends and missed moments
The results from our survey revealed that money represents only half of the story, with nine in ten founders giving up personal time to keep their business running, 66% working weekends and 62% working evenings.
For Living, who hosts corporate poker workshops that run from 5pm to 9pm, it means missing family routines. “The hardest part is I miss everything from school pick-up to bedtime,” she tells us.
Davies describes working seven days a week, building OvaJoy during the week and taking on extra work at weekends to cover her bills. “That’s probably the hardest reality of starting a business that nobody really prepares you for.”
For founders, every hour spent on the business is an hour taken from something else. Our survey found that 80% of founders say running their business has hurt their time for hobbies and interests, 79% say it has hurt holidays and annual leave, and 77% say their physical and mental wellbeing has suffered.
For many, the line between work and home blurs because there’s nobody else to pick up the slack. “There’s a constant pressure of moving the business forward because if you don’t do it,” Davies says. That pressure shows up in how founders spend their downtime: 36% have cancelled or postponed holidays to keep the business running.
Some founders are committed to drawing firm lines, though. Chris Wilson-Cambata, founder of PR agency Mint Gekko works many evenings once his two daughters are in bed, but keeps weekends for family. “It would be a fairly spectacular own goal to create a business that meant I saw less of them.”
Is it worth it? Founders weigh up the sacrifice
So, is all this sacrifice really worth it? In short, yes. Despite the strain, many founders told us they would do it all again, and for most the reason isn’t money.
“For me, it is always worth it,” says Frost, who says seeing the children her brand supports learn to speak and read “validates everything”. Living agrees. “For me, it’s completely worth it. I’ve turned a passion into a business, which is a privilege.”
Others are slightly more wary. Terry Bell, founder and chairman of consultancy firm Bell & Company, says that “when you finally get there, it is the greatest feeling of accomplishment and contentment in the world”, but warns that “the SME backdrop in the UK is brutal right now.”
Peter Boolkah, business coach and founder of Boolkah.com, is the most direct about the limits. “Sacrifice cannot be the permanent business model,” Boolkah says. “Ultimately, the business has to get back to supporting the owner rather than the owner permanently supporting the business,” he tells us, warning about
Wilson-Cambata makes a similar point. “I wouldn’t romanticise financial sacrifice,” he says. “There is nothing particularly noble about worrying how you’re going to pay your tax bill, and reinvesting in a business only makes sense if you’re doing it sustainably.”
Passion and purpose can make the sacrifice feel worth it, and many of the founders we spoke to say it is. However, no founder should have to guess how much is too much. Knowing how much to pay yourself, when to take less, and when to stop cutting is what separates a smart risk from a drain on your money, your time, and your health.
So how can you decide what to pay yourself, and spot when a sacrifice has gone too far? Here’s what to weigh up.
How much you should pay yourself depends on factors from business size and industry to cash flow. But if you’re unsure where to start, or have been cutting your own pay to stay afloat, consider these first.
- Calculate your personal break-even – Add up your essential monthly costs (housing, bills, food, debt repayments, tax), and treat that as the minimum you need from the business.
- Pay yourself on a schedule – Set a fixed monthly draw or salary instead of taking money whenever cash is available, so your income is predictable, and the business can plan around it.
- Set aside tax first – Move your tax share into a separate account as soon as money comes in, so it isn’t mistaken for spendable profit.
- Raise your pay in steps tied to milestones – For example, hitting a revenue target or paying off a debt triggers a pay rise, so you have something concrete to aim for.
