If you run a small business you know how it feels. Papers to file, invoices to send out, quotes to prepare… and all of the work that actually brings in revenue just keeps getting pushed back on the to-do list.
The problem:
Running your own business is a ton of admin work. And for most small business owners, it’s stealing precious hours every week that could be spent growing your business.
What you’ll learn:
- How Admin Tasks Are Killing Your Growth
- Why Invoicing Is the Biggest Time Sink
- 5 Surefire Ways To Cut Back On Admin Work
- Invest In Tools That Work Together
Admin Tasks Are Killing Your Growth
Entrepreneurs wear many hats.
CEO. Marketer. Accountant. Customer support. Writer.
Entrepreneurs do it all.
But how much time do they spend on actually growing their business?
Not very much, it turns out.
Research from Time Etc shows that over 1/3 of entrepreneurs’ work week is dedicated towards admin tasks. Over 16 hours each week is lost to busywork like data entry, scheduling, and chasing clients for payment.
And if that isn’t bad enough…
The same study found that 44% of entrepreneurs deal with invoicing as part of their regular weekly duties. Nearly half of all business owners are manually creating and sending invoices every week.
That’s two full work days gone each week. Not hustling for sales. Not creating business strategies. Just… admin.
The business owners who are crushing it are the ones who treat admin as a problem to solve. So where do you start?
The biggest opportunity for most businesses is right underneath your nose: invoicing.
Why Invoicing Is the Biggest Time Sink
Invoicing. Whether you love it or hate it, it has to be done.
Creating invoices, chasing down late payments, drafting quotes for new customers… Your invoices are a direct pipeline to revenue, so any delays in the process eat away at your bottom line.
Almost every small business creates invoices the old fashioned way. Typing out invoices on spreadsheets, word processors, or even good old pen and paper. It takes way too long.
That’s where a good invoice generator comes in. The right tool makes it easy to create invoices and quotes in seconds, with a professional look every single time.
Automate the tedious stuff so you can focus on what’s important… Growing your business. With invoicing covered, you’ll never have to worry about late payments again or formatting a document incorrectly.
Invoicing is such a big time drain because…
The average business pays $15 to process one invoice. Hundreds of invoices a month turns into thousands of dollars wasted on manual processing. Not to mention late payments due to invoices that are sent out weeks late.
With an automated invoice generator you’ll slash processing costs and get paid faster.
5 Surefire Ways To Cut Back On Admin Work
Good news, you can tackle admin head-on and start reclaiming those hours.
Here are 5 guaranteed ways you can save time on admin each week.
Automate Invoicing & Quote Generation
Remember that this is the easiest thing any business can do to save time.
Stop recreating invoices from scratch every time. Use an invoice generator to whip up professional invoices in seconds. Recurring invoices? Automatic payment reminders? These features will ensure you’re never chasing late payments manually again.
Believe it or not, 56% of US SMBs are currently waiting on unpaid invoices. If there’s a second you stop chasing those invoices, those customers are not calling you to send them your money.
Do whatever you can to get paid faster. And automating your invoicing process is step one.
Use Templates For Everything
How often does your business send out the same email?
Need to send a proposal? Send a quote? Draft a contract?
Businesses lose so much time rewriting the same emails and documents from scratch. Set up templates for the most common emails, proposals, contracts, reports, and anything else you regularly send.
You’ll notice a huge difference once you stop wasting time rewriting the same emails and documents every week.
Centralise Your Business Tools
Here’s what Entrepreneurs do every single day:
Open their accounting software. Open their scheduling app. Check email. Open their calendar.
Flip back and forth to Slack. Back to email. Open a Word Doc.
Yup. Constant multitasking.
Entrepreneurs lose an average of 96 minutes to distractions every day. That includes losing focus when switching between tools. Imagine how much more productive you’d be if you cut that wasted time in half?
Stop using a million different tools that don’t talk to each other. Invoice generator that seamlessly integrates with your accounting software and your payment processor. Fewer tools means less time wasted flipping back and forth.
Batch Similar Tasks
Stop doing admin “between clients”.
Set aside blocks of time each day to handle invoicing, send/reply to emails, and do data entry. There’s a reason batching similar tasks is one of the most popular productivity tips.
The brain hates context switching. Your focus will drill through these admin tasks if you batch them together.
For example:
- 30 minutes on Monday and Thursday only for invoicing work
- Friday afternoon is blocked for bookkeeping & expense tracking
Create structure where there was none. You’ll zoom through admin work like never before.
Outsource Or Delegate Admin Tasks
Running a business is hard. But you don’t have to do everything yourself.
Bookkeeping, payroll processing, data entry are all great tasks to outsource or delegate. Figure out what “below your pay grade” is and stop doing it yourself.
Free up more of your time so you can focus on activities that only you can do.
Invest In Tools That Work Together
Saving time starts with investing in the right tools.
But don’t just stop there!
Look for tools that connect to each other. Automate everything you can.
Take invoicing software that integrates with your accounting tools. No more double-data entry! Get scheduling software that integrates directly with your calendar.
Here’s the kicker…
Small business owners forget about the compound savings of time. Sure, automating your invoicing process saves you an hour each week. But what about the hours that come after that?
Stop Missing Hours Every Week
Admin work is the worst part about running your own business. And unfortunately, it’s also one of the biggest hidden expenses.
But it doesn’t have to be that way.
To recap:
- Automate invoicing with an invoice generator
- Create document/email templates for repetitive tasks
- Use tools that connect to each other
- Outsource/delegate work “below your pay grade”
- Batch similar tasks together to limit distractions
Successful business owners treat administrative work as a problem to solve. Not just the cost of doing business.
Take control of your admin tasks. Start with your invoicing process and watch hours pop back into your week.