Is your small business making good money? The U.S. economy is strong, and American consumer sentiment hit a three-year high in March 2024. A recent survey from American Express found that 85% of small business owners are satisfied with the success of their businesses.
If your small business is generating healthy profits, and you’re trying to decide how to invest the extra cash in your bank account, there’s one big thing that you should consider buying more of: time.
When people make more money, their time becomes more valuable. You might notice this if your small business is thriving and keeping you busy. And time is the one thing that we can never get more of. All of us only have 24 hours in a day, and time is fleeting.
Small business owners should consider these ideas to “buy time” in 2024.
1. Automate business processes with software
Are you still doing bookkeeping with spreadsheets, or using manual processes to handle your marketing? Especially if your small business is growing and thriving, you need to take advantage of the great small business software to save time and take items off your to-do list.
Ask yourself:
- What is the value of your time on a per-hour basis? (Take your annual income divided by 2,000 hours, to do some back-of-the-envelope math. For example, if you earn $100,000 per year, your time is worth about $50 per hour.)
- How much money would you save by spending five fewer hours per month on non-essential tasks?
- How much does a monthly subscription cost for accounting software? (It’s probably less than the dollar value of five hours of your time per month.)
Automating your business helps your company grow and thrive, without the inefficiencies and frictions of manual processes. It’s often worth signing up for small business software just on the value of your time-savings alone, even aside from the extra value, cost savings, and revenue that these tools can help you gain.
2. Delegate non-strategic business tasks
Small business owners sometimes struggle to “let go” of various aspects of their business; if you built the business yourself, you understandably have pride of ownership and you like to make sure that things get done right. But as your business grows, it’s ever more important to find ways to delegate. Train and develop your employees to handle higher-level responsibilities, or hire independent contractors to help you with the workload.
By delegating and outsourcing tasks, you are buying time and clearing your calendar so you can focus on the higher-value projects and high-impact decisions that are most essential for your attention. Buying time with delegating can also free up your day to spend more time on strategic thinking and planning. Try to spend more time toward working “on” your business, not “in” your business.
3. Get help at home
When you’re working long hours at your business it’s hard to find time to mow the lawn, clean the gutters, and do home improvement projects. So hire someone else to do it. Buy more time by offloading your domestic chores, whether it’s painting a bedroom, fixing the front porch, installing a ceiling fan, or even doing laundry.
Unless you’re handy and you love working with tools and home improvement is energizing and restorative for you, most small business owners are likely going to be better off by paying someone else to take those chores off your to-do list. Don’t feel bad about paying someone else to do your chores and home repairs; spend that extra time making more money.
This is a fundamental economic concept called “division of labor.” By doing more of what you do best (running your business), you can generate more profits to pay other people to do what they do best. Value your time, and create opportunities (and side hustles) for others.
4. Pay someone else to cook
In the past few years, Americans have been spending more money on restaurants, takeout, and food delivery. The Motley Fool Ascent’s research found that spending on “food away from home” has increased by 20% since 2021, and now makes up about 4% of total income.
Even though dining out is typically more expensive than buying groceries and cooking at home, most Americans seem to find that the tradeoff is worth it. Especially for time-starved small business owners, paying someone else to cook your dinner can free up precious time to spend on your business, your family and friends, and other aspects of life.
Along with the usual restaurants, takeout, and food delivery apps, small business owners might want to consider a meal subscription service. I personally subscribe to Factor, which ships freshly cooked, refrigerated, microwaveable meals directly to your home. The meals are delicious and are chef-crafted and dietitian-designed, so you get good nutrition from a wide range of flavors and cuisines. No shopping or cooking required!
5. Invest in your health and wellness
Small business owners sometimes get so busy with financial wellness that they neglect their physical wellness. Join a gym, buy a new bike, try a new sport, sign up for a fitness class, or hire a personal trainer. Investing in your health can help you “buy time” for a (hopefully) longer, healthier lifespan.
Bottom line
If you’re a successful small business owner, part of the joy of building a thriving business is that it gives you options to not just make more money, but “buy more time.” As well as paying attention to your bookkeeping and bank statements, try to free up your schedule so you can focus on the activities that will enrich your business — and your life.
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