Many entrepreneurs are passionate about their business idea – and rightly so – it is in fact the small business sector in the UK which creates more jobs than any other sector in the economy. However, if you’re going to start a business and grow it into a sustainable enterprise with a long term future, then that’s exactly what you need to be focused on – building and growing your enterprise.

Small business failures

One of the most common problems, and possibly the most frequent cause of many small business failures is the fact that business owners often get bogged down in day to day activities in their business and lose sight of the big picture and the tasks they should be focused on.

We all know what it’s like – you have to deal with those super urgent things which come across your desk that day, because it’s urgent and before you know it your day has been consumed with just dealing with problem solving. While you may think this is productive – it’s generally not – and only detracts from what you should be doing – growing your business.

You’re not always the best person for the job

Let’s face it, in many cases there are other people who are just as able as you to do certain tasks, and in many cases, better qualified and more experienced.

For example, there’s little point in getting immersed in tasks such as payroll and marketing activities for your business, other than at a conceptual input level. Then you want to step back and let others actually implement and carry out the daily or weekly tasks associated with payroll, accounting and marketing. By all means, monitor and supervise, but your main task should always be growing your business. This is something only you can do.

Refocus your efforts

Building client relationships, networking and looking at ways to improve your offerings, whether it’s a better product or service, is far more productive and constructive in terms of the long term prospects for your business.

Take a good hard look at your current business operations and critically evaluate if you really need to be so involved in tasks which do not directly contribute to the improvement and growth of your business.

Business support service such as accounting, marketing and payroll can and are usually best done by experts in their field such as www.berkeleyhamilton.co.uk – leaving you to focus on the really crucial areas of business development.

Alternative solutions

Explore outsourcing payroll and accounting services for example or hiring part-time employees to take care of other tasks and you’ll suddenly find you’re free to deal with the essential business development tasks which need to be done, but are often neglected due to dealing with all the normal day to day problems which surface in most small businesses.

Get this balance right and your business will grow from strength to strength.