As a small business owner, you may always feel like you are fighting the clock. Even if you work morning, noon and night, there are never enough hours in the day to make any real progress.

Rather than continue to fill multiple roles, it is time to delegate tasks and rely on services and products that can free up space in your workday. By doing so, you will have more time to focus on the essential details associated with growing your business.

Chart how you spend your time

On the surface, you may realize that you are wasting a lot of time on tasks unrelated to the actual growth of your organization. However, you may not have a complete understanding of how you are spending your time and where you can cut back.

Take one week to chart every hour of your day. Write down the tasks you completed –from sales to marketing to payroll (among others) – as well as how much time you spent on each one.At the end of the week, calculate your total time spent on each task. Only then will you truly know how you are spending your time.

Cut back with the help of software

Now that you are aware of your biggest “time drains” you must focus on finding a solution. Along with hiring new employees, you can use technology to save time.

Software-as-a-service (Saas) is an excellent way to maximize efficiency.  Here are several software services that can help you save time without jeopardizing efficiency:

  • SurePayroll: provides online payroll accounting and management services.
  • Resumator: helps companies recruit, interview and hire the right employees.
  • FreshBooks: for tracking time, organizing expenses and invoicing clients – without all the paper.

With these services at your disposal, you are no longer directly involved with every step of the process. For example, SurePayroll can handle all aspects of your payroll. In turn, you don’t have to spend hours on end cutting checks and staying current with changing laws and regulations.

By revising your work schedule and relying on the power of multiple software programs, you can cut back on responsibilities that are unrelated to growing your business. Subsequently, you will find more time for the tasks that matter the most!