RESEARCH shows that almost two thirds (63 per cent) of business owners believe they could grow by 20 per cent if they were able to delegate just ten per cent of their workload. The research also suggests that the UK’s SME economy could be boosted by £270 billion per year if this 20 per cent growth was achieved across the board.
The findings have led Peterborough-based businesswoman and author Gail Thomas (left) to team up with IT performance consultants Your Impact to provide an online platform to help small businesses learn to grow through delegation.
According to Ms Thomas, one in ten businesses could achieve more than 50 per cent growth but fewer than 15 per cent of business owners say they delegate as much as they could – and 80 per cent admit they need help to do so.
Ms Thomas said, “So many people are at the point where they have enough work on and want to take on more without letting the quality of service dip. They go one of three ways: stay where they are; crack under the pressure; or they crack the formula of delegation. The last of these differentiates one-man-bands from sustainable businesses and it helps businesses increase their size at the same time.
“If SME owners are looking to sell their business, then they should recognise that the value of the business is doubled if it doesn’t need you. So if it can continue without dependence on someone who has been working in it, the value is significantly increased to the purchaser. If your business needs you, it’s worth half the price.
“Even if you’re not looking to sell, the value of delegation is indisputable. By extrapolating Government statistics my research demonstrates that it comes to just over £270 billion pounds to the national economy per year.”
Gail Thomas, who is based in Peterborough, left corporate life aged 30 and set up as a business consultant, before her recognition of the need for secretarial support led her to establishing The Virtual PA Company in 2001.
Over 14 years, the business has served thousands of businesses, mostly small businesses but also household names like Royal Caribbean, Lloyds and RNIB, all of which recognised the benefits of delegating secretarial and admin tasks to free up resources and let them grow their businesses.
Ms Thomas has now launched a book on the subject called The Gift Of Time, and has teamed up with Your Impact to create the thegiftoftime.yourgoalstoday.com platform through which business owners and managers can free up time, grow their companies or develop their careers and provide more work for staff, all with the added benefit of helping grow the nation’s economy. The platform can be found at http://thegiftoftime.yourgoalstoday.com/ and subscriptions to the service cost just £4.95 per month. The book, The Gift of Time is published by Wiley and costs £6.17.