{"id":1122,"date":"2019-11-01T03:22:21","date_gmt":"2019-11-01T01:22:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.axiaconsulting.co.za\/?p=1122"},"modified":"2026-05-14T08:21:52","modified_gmt":"2026-05-14T06:21:52","slug":"how-to-take-off-a-day-a-week-and-still-grow-your-business-in-a-struggling-economy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.axiaconsulting.co.za\/af\/how-to-take-off-a-day-a-week-and-still-grow-your-business-in-a-struggling-economy\/","title":{"rendered":"How to take off a day a week and still grow your business in a struggling economy"},"content":{"rendered":"
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I\u2019m sure you\u2019re thinking that there\u2019s a mistake in the title. How can a business owner possibly take a day off every week and continue to grow their business \u2013 and to top it off, while the economy is struggling? This is not a riddle. Let\u2019s start explaining with some facts.<\/span><\/p>\n

Small businesses spend about one-third of the year on admin tasks<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Research from enterprise software company Unit4 found that office workers in the UK spend roughly one-third of their working year on administrative or repetitive tasks. Closer to home, a 2017 survey which included South Africa found that small businesses spend up to 240 days per year working on admin tasks.<\/span><\/p>\n

With the above information in mind, would it be safe to assume that business admin is holding small business owners back from growing their business? If they could actually spend that time on through marketing and networking opportunities that put them in touch with their ideal customers, how would that impact their business growth, and ultimately their revenue?<\/span><\/p>\n

Grab your calculator and let\u2019s do a little math:<\/span><\/p>\n

52 weeks x 5 working days = 260 working days a year.<\/span><\/p>\n

Divide 260 by 3. That totals just over 86 working days a year spent on admin (based on the one-third statistic). Divide 86 by 12 months, and you\u2019re left with about seven days a month spent on business admin.<\/span><\/p>\n

Keeping these statistics and calculations in mind, why would any savvy business owner even think about employing a full-time admin person, if they have to pay a salary for someone to only work seven days a month? That does not make any financial sense.<\/span><\/p>\n

Every potential problem has a solution<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

What does make sense for a business owner to outsource their business admin to a Virtual Assistant (or VA).<\/span><\/p>\n

Wikipedia provides a short explanation of what a VA is:\u00a0 \u201c\"\"A\u00a0virtual assistant<\/strong>\u00a0(typically abbreviated to\u00a0VA<\/strong>, also called a\u00a0virtual office assistant<\/strong>)\u00a0is generally self-employed and provides\u00a0professional<\/a>\u00a0administrative, technical, or creative (social) assistance to clients remotely from a\u00a0home office<\/a>.\u00a0 Because virtual assistants are independent contractors rather than employees, clients are not responsible for any employee-related taxes, insurance or benefits, except in the context that those indirect expenses are included in the VA’s fees. Clients also avoid the logistical problem of providing extra office space, equipment or supplies. Clients pay for 100% productive work, and can work with Virtual Assistants, individually, or in multi-VA firms to meet their exact needs. Virtual Assistants usually work for other\u00a0small businesses<\/a>,\u00a0but can also support busy executives.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Jack of all trades, master of\u2026<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

As business\u00a0\"\"owners cannot possibly know everything about everything and stay on top of the latest developments, it makes time and money sense to outsource mundane tasks that fall outside their area of expertise to someone with the right experience to support their business.<\/span><\/p>\n

Looking specifically at how a VA can support a small business owner, here is an alphabetical list of common tasks to outsource:<\/span><\/p>\n

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Organisation and administrative tasks:<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n