Everyone has heard the advice that it’s better to work smart than to work hard, but many business owners assume it doesn’t apply to them. More often than not, they assume that working 60-hour weeks and finding themselves constantly busy is a sign that their companies are becoming more successful. Unfortunately, constant work can leave entrepreneurs feeling burnt out and overwhelmed, and poor business structures are the most common underlying cause of this problem.

The Importance of Delegation

Delegating tasks to competent employees or third-party contractors is the best way to improve a business structure and reduce stress, but few business owners know how to do this effectively. Those who find themselves stuck doing too many tasks that fall outside the purview of general managers need to recognize the problem before they can make any changes.

To get an idea of whether this is a real problem, keep track of 100% of the time spent at work for one to two weeks. Analyze the resulting timesheet to see how most of that time is getting spent. If most of the tasks on the list are things that business owners don’t enjoy and aren’t very good at, it’s time for them to start finding ways to delegate those responsibilities.

Making Use of Outside Resources

Some tasks can be delegated effectively to existing employees. Others are best left to outside specialists. Bookkeeping Services are a perfect example.

Most small to mid-sized companies don’t have it in the budget to hire full-time bookkeepers. Instead, business owners either take on this work themselves or delegate it to managers who don’t have the specialized training required to do the work well.

Not all tasks can be delegated to just any employee. Delegating tasks to employees who don’t have the skills to complete them efficiently can still create extra work for business owners since they’ll have to check every step of their managers’ work for accuracy. It makes far more sense to hire an outside specialist.

Stop Making Excuses

Many business owners put off changing the structure of their companies until they are already overworked and overwhelmed, making up excuses about why they should be doing 100% of the work themselves. Being too busy all the time is not a sign of success, but of poor business structure, and making excuses for it can hold business owners and their companies back from reaching their full potential.

Try a Stress Test

It’s common for business owners at successful, growing companies to assume that their companies could not survive for even a moment without them. Sometimes, unfortunately, that’s true. A company that can’t operate for even a week without the business owner at the helm is not structured correctly, and things will only get worse for the already overworked owner as it continues to grow.

To see if the company’s organizational structure is up to snuff, put it through a stress test by taking some time off. Aim for at least a week of no contact. Take a vacation and avoid taking a single email or call, and see what happens. If things keep running smoothly without the business owner at the helm, that’s a good sign that the company’s organizational structure is solid.

The Bottom Line

Everyone from office workers to business owners deserves to have a life outside of work. For the average employee, managing work-life balance is relatively easy since the entire company’s success does not rest on his or her shoulders. While business owners inevitably have more responsibilities than the typical office worker, they still deserve to get enough time off to have meaningful lives outside of work. Restructuring can help them avoid burnout without risking damage to the company’s bottom line.