The article is devoted to the issue of satisfaction with work – expectations and implementation – from the perspective of individual business activity. The results of three survey-type research projects carried out in the years 2002–2019 among persons conducting business activity in the Lubelskie Voivodeship (a total of 1696 respondents) were used as empirical material. Comparative analysis was based on the replication of variables and indicators. The study consists of two parts. The first presents the definition problems regarding self-employment, theoretical foundations and the subject of the analysis, an outline of the methodology and features of the examined communities. The second part contains the description of the research results. ...