50 is the number of hours that one in four SME owners are now working according to a survey by MetLife. Even more shockingly, significant numbers of owners are working 60 hours a week!
In percentages, 28% of those surveyed worked 50 hours or more with 15% saying they actually worked 60 hour plus, sometimes including the weekends. Big investments and the stress of creating business success is taking its toll on SME owners.
Here some tips on re-working your long working hours situation:
1. Ask yourself, what does your job include? Do you run the social media, accounts and finance?
Aspion can help you hire talented individuals who can share your work load. Think how much time you’ll save and spend on important business meetings and new clients, if you had a new PA, Administration Assistant or Marketing Executive. The immediate cost of a new salary will be outweighed by the positive changes you’ll see in your business and the time you’ll get back.
2. Stop checking your emails every five minutes. Procrastination in the form of email checking is costing you time and money. Set aside an hour of the day just to answer your emails, people can wait and hour or two. Perhaps set an automated reply detailing that you will get to the emails by the end of the day and all immediate business needs should be dealt with over the phone, leaving your new PA’s direct number.
3. Planning is key, we all like to think we can tackle everything at once. Plan in an hour every week were you have a team meeting, communication will help tackle business issues and deem which ones are the most important. From this meeting email your team with all the issues you will be tackling this week, then planning ahead to a month or 6 monthly.
Don’t forget Aspion are here to help you find your business balance with recruitment. We’ll take the stress of advertising and screening and present you with only the best candidates. You’ll thank us for the time you get back by hiring new team members!
