How To Grow A Small Business Without Getting Drowned By Admin Work

Forbes

10 hours ago

Nick Chandi is the CEO of Forwardly, an award-winning B2B payment platform that helps US businesses send and receive payments faster.
Running a small business can be incredibly rewarding, but it's not all sunshine and daisies. Behind the freedom, the innovation and the wins, there's a relentless stream of admin work that can quietly slow your growth and drain your energy. As someone who has built and scaled multiple businesses, I understand how administrative overload can become a hidden tax on growth. No matter the industry, one theme keeps popping up: 'I didn't sign up to be buried in busywork.'
And yet, most founders spend a staggering amount of time doing exactly that. A recent Sage study found that small businesses lose 24 days a year just dealing with financial administration—almost like working an extra month for free. Instead of focusing on customers, growth or new ideas, you're spending that time on paperwork, chasing invoices and trying to get approvals.
The Hidden Cost Of Admin Overload
The time lost to admin work is only part of the problem. The real issue is what you could have been doing instead: cultivating new clients, improving marketing, innovating new products or even just getting a full night's sleep. It also adds a layer of mental fatigue. Every task, no matter how small, chips away at your focus. I once spoke with a founder who said, 'I feel like a glorified admin with a business card,' and honestly, it stuck with me. If we want to grow sustainably, we need to protect our time and energy from manual admin tasks.
Most of the admin burden comes from just a few departments. One big culprit is accounts payable and receivable: paying vendors, issuing invoices and chasing down late payments. Then there's manual data entry between systems that don't communicate with each other, such as your CRM, accounting software and bank account. Add on endless email threads, approval chains and repetitive reporting tasks, and you've got a perfect recipe for burnout. These may seem like small pieces, but together they create a huge drag on momentum.
Automate Accounts Payable
One of the fastest ways to reduce admin drag is to automate your accounts payable process. You don't need to overhaul your entire tech stack; in my experience, just one smart payment automation system can save up to 14 hours every week.
Start by scheduling vendor payments to process automatically on their due dates, eliminating early payments that eat into your cash flow or last-minute scrambles to meet deadlines. Next, implement simple approval workflows. Instead of chasing down email threads or waiting for manual sign-offs, set up a structured process where team members or co-founders can review and approve bills in a few clicks. It speeds things up and keeps everyone on the same page.
Finally, automate bank and payment reconciliation. Syncing your bank account, accounting software and payment system ensures your books stay clean and up to date without manual data entry or backtracking.
Don't Wait Too Long To Delegate
Many business owners delay hiring or outsourcing admin work because they think they need to reach a certain team size—but the earlier you delegate, the faster you grow.
I'm not talking about bringing on a full-time ops person from day one; I mean outsourcing tasks like bookkeeping, inbox management or scheduling. You can find skilled freelancers or use services on multiple online platforms. And don't forget to consider the opportunity cost; if you're worth $100 per hour to your business and you're spending time on tasks that someone else could handle for $25 per hour, you're leaving real money on the table.
Build Simple Systems That Save Time
The less you rely on memory, the more time you free up. Start small:
• Create email templates for common messages.
• Use consistent naming conventions for your files to avoid digging through folders.
• Build a basic client or project onboarding checklist so nothing gets missed.
One founder I know used to onboard every new client with manual back-and-forth emails. She now uses a form plus an automated workflow to collect info and send a welcome packet, cutting her onboarding time from two days to two hours. These types of systems don't just save time; they also reduce stress and errors.
Time-Box Your Admin Tasks And Move On
Instead of letting admin work bleed into your day, schedule it like you would any other important task. Set aside one or two focused blocks a week for admin work and when the time's up, stop. No exceptions. This helps prevent admin work from hijacking your week and keeps your focus. Try thinking of it like meal-prepping for your business admin: Batch it, do it well and don't think about it again until the next scheduled time.
Admin work will always be part of running a business, but it shouldn't be the part that slows you down or drains your energy. Rather than attempting to eliminate it entirely, strive to reduce it, streamline it and hand off what you don't need to touch yourself. Growth comes from doing more of what actually moves the needle, not from getting better at paperwork.
Start with one or two small improvements this week. Maybe automate payments, outsource bookkeeping or just block admin time on your calendar. Whatever you choose, you'll start to feel the shift. And that momentum? That's what will carry your business forward.
Forbes Finance Council is an invitation-only organization for executives in successful accounting, financial planning and wealth management firms. Do I qualify?