> Freelancing is one thing but a comparing it to owning a company with employees is very different.
Yes of course, but I did not mean to do that. I don't know what the relative distribution is, but think HN readership plausibly has a particular view of "starting a company" which is not very reflective of that distribution...
I have no numbers but what I've seen from people owning businesses with employees (or even alone) in various fields none are stopping at 40 hours a week. That is in Sweden.
EDIT: Just for fun I googled some and found an article where they had made a poll in a magazine about small business owners. The distribution was:
Less than 30h 7,5% 31-35h 2,3% 36-40h 6,5% 41-45h 10,5% 46-50h 14,9% 51-55h 13,9% 56-60h 15,8% 61-65h 8,0% 66-70h 7,1% 71-75h 3,4% 76-80h 3,9% More than 80h 6,2%
https://www.foretagande.se/nyheter/sa-manga-timmar-jobbar-eg...