[zhdc1]

> there's a "dirty little secret" that this article doesn't mention: most of them never get paid a dime by their own business. They are spending their way through a business loan, or they have family money, or some other source

Over fifty percent of generic small businesses survive for more than five years, so it's unlikely that a majority of them are completely subsisting on government loans, investors, or family money.

The most common outcome (for the small businesses that last) is to turn into something that creates just enough revenue to support the owner and a handful of employees. The owner takes a small salary and uses the rest of the cash flow for float or reinvests it into the business.

However, depending on the country, tax laws can be fairly advantageous for small business owners (e.g., higher limits on tax-deferred retirement accounts). There's also the benefit of building net worth in the business, which isn't something that employees benefit from. So, while the owner may not be getting paid all that much, they still benefit in a bunch of other ways.

[dionidium]

> However, depending on the country, tax laws can be fairly advantageous for small business owners

My wife is a loan officer at a mortgage company. It's a running joke that it's a pain in the ass to qualify small-business owners, because so many of them claim so little actual income on their tax returns, even when they're quite obviously wealthy.

[ghaff]

Many years ago, I had a small side software business. My revenue would be almost pocket change category for me today and honestly wasn't all that much for the effort I put into it at the time. But one nice thing was that it wasn't even a stretch to bring to income down to just over zero by offsetting various computer and office expenses (in addition to the costs the business incurred directly, which weren't much).

[rossdavidh]

They may well be cheating on their taxes, but they may also in many cases be wealthy in spite of, rather than because of, their small business.