A Day in the Life of a Business Owner

A Day in the Life of a Business Owner

Business life is hard, and it can make your personal life hard as well.  So much to do and so little time, what is a Business Owner to do?

The average day of a business owner can vary depending on the type of business, the size of the team, and the level of involvement of the owner. However, some common tasks and activities that many business owners do daily include, but are not limited to the following:

• Reviewing goals and priorities for the day, week, month, and year
• Checking emails and messages from clients, vendors, investors, and employees
• Handling financial matters, such as paying bills, invoicing, budgeting, and tracking expenses
• Meeting with team members, partners, or stakeholders to discuss progress, challenges, and opportunities.
• Solving problems and making decisions that affect the business.
• Working on core business activities, such as product development, marketing, sales, or customer service.
• Networking with other business owners, industry experts, or potential customers
• Learning new skills, tools, or trends that can help grow the business.
• Dealing with employee issues

The average business owner works about 50-80 hours per week.  The amount of time spent on different tasks can also vary depending on the stage and nature of the business.

Here are some interesting facts documented by Inc. Magazine:

• 33% of small business owners work at least 50 hours per week.
• An additional 25% of entrepreneurs log more than 60 hours per week.
• 70% of small business owners work at least one weekend a month on a regular basis.

Also, the long hours don’t stop there—they bleed into vacation time, too. SCORE found that:

• Only 57% of small business owners take vacations.
• 67% of small business owners who do take vacations will check in to work at least once a day.

• 62% of entrepreneurs said the stress of ownership is worse than they imagined,
  • Keeps them up at night, and
  • they often work for less than minimum wage, especially in their first year of business.

A Business Owner will likely need to put in long hours to make their business successful.  But we are constantly looking for ways to make it a little Biz Easier…  So today here are just a few:

1. Automate Manual Tasks 

Administrative tasks, like managing your accounting books and running payroll, are arguably some of the most cumbersome yet important tasks you have. Not to mention, you have emails to write, customer relationships to manage, and so on.

Instead of spending hours on these types of tasks, automate them. You can automate manual tasks through tools like:

• Accounting software
• Email marketing software
• Payroll software
• Customer relationship management software
• Project management tools

For example, you can use accounting software to automatically import bank transactions, import data, record transactions, and send recurring invoices to customers.

2. Hire Qualified Employees (and remember to delegate) 

Is it time to hire your first employee? Consider whether you can afford the extra payroll expense.  If you can afford to hire, having an extra set of hands could help you work fewer hours and increase business growth (growth being the goal here).

Once you have an employee (or employees), use them!  Don’t forget to delegate tasks to them, or you’ll find yourself in the same boat of overworking.  Failing to delegate is more common among entrepreneurs than you may think. Small business owners said they don’t delegate because:

1. They feel they themselves are the most capable.
2. Their employees don’t have the right skills.
3. They’re in a hurry to get it done, and don’t (won’t) take the time to wait.
4. They like doing the tasks.

3. Take Some Time for You

Your business is your baby, but you also need to take care of yourself to better take care of that baby.  Make sure to take some breaks from the 60+ workweeks from time to time.  Remember you work for yourself now and even if your hours are long, they should be flexible, so go take in the kid’s soccer game from time to time.

A few ways you can take care of yourself include:

• Taking breaks (including vacations!)
• Getting plenty of rest
• Managing your stress
• Spending time with loved ones
• Enjoying your favorite hobbies

Being self-employed will be the hardest work that you ever do, but it is important that your business works for you more than you are working for it, otherwise you’ve only changed bosses.  Think of the independence you were looking for when you started this enterprise, and rather than trying to focus on every detail, try to focus on the bigger picture.

Remember Parato’s Law of 80/20.  20% of the things you do will produce 80% of the results.  So, prioritize and spend more time on the important 20% tasks, and delegate and spend less time on the 80% tasks.

I am reminded of a month-long motorcycle trip to Alaska that I took with a friend of mine who owned several businesses that are 7-days-a-week businesses.   I wanted to know how he was able to be away from his business for 30 days, his answer was simple: Delegation and Bluetooth. He hired and trained Managers to deal with the day-to-day and had Bluetooth in his helmet to answer phone calls as needed.  He was able to enjoy his vacation and stay plugged in without stressing over everything.

You can get your business to the point where you can do something similar if you lay the groundwork now. The alternative is grinding it out, run yourself into the ground, and have a vacation in the hospital instead.  Just kidding… or am I?

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