So much to do and no time to do it: the eternal conundrum of the small-business owner. But there are ways to protect your time, profits and sanity. Here, a successful industry consultant and an experienced supplier entrepreneur share their wisdom on how to grow a small business, from which tasks to delegate to what truly drives growth.

Distributor View

Nicole McNamee
Fractional Executive, Growth Strategy and Operations

Supplier View

Seth LaPierre
Inventor/Owner, FLYGA (asi/54872)

Q: How can small businesses operate smoothly while still making time to prospect and sell?

Nicole McNamee: Clean orders going in reduce back-and-forth and prevent errors as work moves through production. Accuracy at the front end is one of the simplest ways to protect both margins and time. If the business is large enough to support a production manager or post-sales role, that clear division of labor is critical. For owner-operators or one-person shops,   blocking time each week (and ideally each day) to prospect new clients and nurture existing relationships isn’t optional; it’s how the business grows.

Seth LaPierre: In my experience it comes down to three core capabilities. One, establish a simple and consistent process, but stay open to continuous improvement as you grow and scale. Two, maintain a clear and navigable folder and file structure so you can execute orders with speed. Three, use the technology platforms that you understand and can leverage for efficiencies. Identifying those opportunities for automation and setting them up can be a challenge, so don’t be discouraged. It takes time.

Q: When’s the right time to add an employee?

NM: There’s no single “correct” answer. Some owners intentionally overstaff to buy back time at home. Others understaff to maximize short-term profitability. Both can work if the choice is intentional. As a general rule of thumb, for every $1.25 million in revenue, a business should plan for one entry-level, salaried support person. Scaled out, a $2.5 million sales pod typically supports one salesperson and two support staff. At that point, the added structure usually pays for itself through efficiency, accuracy and increased selling capacity.

SL: It depends on your business model and strategy for growth. If you have or are seeking investors, then adding an employee might be an immediate need. If you’re self-funding and have been able to find amazing partners that you trust, then adding an employee might be down the road. The short answer? When your cash flow can cover business expenses, salary and the required insurance policies. And the work has grown to a level you can no longer execute on your own.

Q: Which day-to-day tasks should small-business owners stop doing themselves first?

NM: Accounting and production. Accounting functions like accounts receivable, accounts payable and commission reporting are critical, but they don’t drive growth. Delegating them early frees owners to focus on revenue-generating activity while improving accuracy and consistency. Production-related tasks should follow quickly. Once an order is placed, the owner’s involvement should end so attention stays on selling, strategy and client relationships.

SL: Sending samples, prospecting leads and managing social media content. I find these three activities are easily transferable, always in need and can consume quite a bit of time. Time and good time management are incredibly important for small-business owners and it’s a constant struggle.

Q: What metric should be watched most closely?

NM: Cash flow is the most important metric every owner should watch. Without it, nothing else matters. That said, my preferred leading indicator is year-over-year sales performance at the account level. Monitoring account trends surfaces risk early. The worst surprise is discovering your largest account is down 20% while your time has been absorbed by nonrevenue-generating work.

SL: Cash flow. Are you generating enough in sales to operate your business? Otherwise, you’ll just keep digging further into debt and be filled with stress. If that’s working, then you can explore the fun and exciting metrics, like the number of poly bags not used or trees saved due to your sustainability efforts.

Q: Which early habits pay off tenfold later?

NM: Anyone who knows me will smile at this: early habits around reorder reporting. Whether it’s manually reviewing prior-year orders and reaching out to clients, or setting up CRM triggers that prompt emails or remind salespeople to follow up, reorder processes create momentum with very little effort. It’s the simplest form of “mailbox money” – revenue that shows up because the system did the work.

SL: My favorite habit is timeboxing, even as I still struggle with this like so many business owners because we have a constant flow of ideas. Setting specific blocks for each day to work on specific components of the business – marketing, website, product design, inventory management, finance, etc. – will pay off.