A survey suggests small businesses are working harder but their productivity is waning.
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The poll, by accounting software firm MYOB, found nearly three-quarters of small to medium enterprises completed administration tasks outside of work hours.
But despite feeling busy, over half of those polled feel they are only productive for just over half the week.
MYOB's Jo Tozer said a concerning number of SMEs still used time-consuming processes to track their finances.
Just over a quarter of respondents said they used Microsoft Excel to track their expenses.
"A lot of SMEs are busy, so busy that they don't have the time to step back from their business and actually work on the business as opposed to in it.
"SMEs have absolutely no problem knuckling down to achieve their goals but it's really important, though, they consider how they are investing their time and taking advantage of tools available that can improve their productivity," Tozer said.
She said the research suggested many business owners or managers did not use delegation or technology to save time.
"According to our findings, a significant proportion of business owners and decision makers are reluctant to hand over work, with more than a third of SMEs (38 percent) saying they rarely or never delegate tasks when their workload becomes heavier than usual.
"Sharing the load and delegating work not only provides business owners or managers with more time to tackle bigger picture strategies or decisions, but also empowers employees and team members by giving them a chance to upskill or try their hand at something new," Tozer said.