New research from Xero, a global small business platform, has found leaders of the UK’s smallest businesses (one to nine employees) and sole traders spend less than half (46%) of the working week on their core jobs. These businesses effectively aren’t starting work on primary responsibilities until 2.36pm on Wednesday, because they’re juggling non-core roles like IT, legal, admin, finance and cleaning.
As a result, these businesses reported missing out on an average of £61,000 in additional revenue. That’s equivalent to 12.5% of income each year.
The survey of 1,000 small and medium business leaders found that almost half (46%) of the smallest businesses have experienced burnout and stress because they are taking on too many roles at work. On top of this, almost one-third (32%) say they can’t take on new staff or grow their business because they are too distracted by operational duties.