A recent study by the Minneapolis Fed found small-business owners see faster rates of income growth than people collecting a paycheck.

BY BRUCE CRUMLEY @BRUCEC_INC

Photo: Getty Images

When entrepreneurs list their principal reasons for launching a company, small-business owners often cite being their own boss, flexibility in setting their working hours, and turning a commercial concept into reality as their main motivations. Now new data identifies another incentive that may convince future entrepreneurs to take the plunge. According to a recent analysis by the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, the average self-employed person earns significantly more income during their career than people who work for someone else.

However, the report’s findings also note the widely varying levels of income among small-business owners, and the length of time usually required before stronger earnings start flowing in. Those details may lead some less enterprising prospective entrepreneurs to stick with punching a clock after all.

The analysis by the Minneapolis Fed differs from most research on small-business owners, which often relies heavily on survey responses. The shifting makeup of participants in those........

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