SMALL business owners did not have the same amount of festive cheer as the rest of us.

Nearly one in ten worked on Christmas Day, 14 per cent worked on Boxing Day and a further 12 per cent planned on spending New Years Day in the office, shop or workshop.

But it is not just the holiday period that keeps small company bosses from their homes and families -- 44 per cent work a 12 hour day and seven per cent work more than 12 hours a day.

A total of 26 per cent say they work a six-day week and seven per cent do the full seven days.

Holidays seem to be out of the question with 13 per cent saying they have worked for two years or more without a break and seven per cent saying the same for the past four years.

Of those who do take a holiday, 21 per cent have taken less than two weeks' holiday in any year for the last five years.

The research by Eagle Star Business Direct shows that, rather than living for and loving their business, it is the worry of losing valuable custom that keeps small business owners tied to their work.

A total of 21 per cent are afraid of losing customers if they are away from their workplace and 15 per cent believe that they must work around the clock just to keep up with the opposition.

A tenth simply cannot afford other staff and 13 per cent feel that they can't trust anyone else to run the business in their absence.

Long hours are par for the course for small business owners. A fifth claim to get most of their work done when the business is closed and 45 per cent say that working all hours is the only way to get through the "to-do" list.

Of course the lengthy working day comes at a cost according to the survey. A quarter of SME bosses claim to be more irritable and bad-tempered as a result of their work and a further quarter say that they suffer from stress and depression -- 14 per cent even feel that their home life and relationships suffer.