British SMEs work overtime for success
British small businesses are working the equivalent of a 15 month year in order to be successful and keep trading, new research has revealed.
The equivalent of an extra three months of work deals with the essential tasks that need to be done to ensure ends meet, the British Insurance Brokers’ Association (BIBA) revealed.
Tasks such as handling insurance, managing IT and tech systems and sorting out office supplies can all be incredibly time consuming, especially for smaller firms.
Those tasks alone can add an extra ten hours a week on average for SME owners, rising to around 13.4 hours for owners of larger SMEs.
Time spent doing these jobs often means that other aspects of a business are neglected, which can have a negative impact on the business concerned.
Such time could be spent developing the business, team building or investing in skills for example, rather than dealing with the administrative burden.
It could also potentially mean that deals are missed or that sales are lost, both factors that could impact upon the bottom line of a firm.
Should a director or business owner have concerns relating to the company’s finances, then they should seek valuable advice from an insolvency practitioner.
While a company may not need a complete restructuring, the services provided may provide some solutions that can help to streamline the business and improve how it is run.
HR and marketing were found to take up the most time according to the survey of 500 directors, owners and senior managers.
They revealed they spent around 90 minutes a week on HR work and a further 77 minutes on marketing techniques.
Keeping core business goals in mind when developing a business is essential, but administrative tasks are also important for owners.
Setting aside time to deal with them is needed in any strategy, but where possible it should not be at the expense of other key parts of the business.
By Phil Smith