Work smarter, not longer, when running your own business

Originally posted on 9 Jan 2014

I blogged previously on this subject, here.  I’ve long tossed the idea around in my mind: which is best: Working hard or Working smart? The truth is, in my view, to work smart rather than (just) hard.

Michael Moroney wrote an interesting article on this subject (The Myth of Working Hard vs. Working Smart) late last month published on Entrepreneur.com, here.  He says that Mike Rowe, host of the popular Discovery Channel series Dirty Jobs, recently highlighted the dichotomy of how work in America is portrayed – in one corner, the romantic, blue-collar ideal of “working harder,” and in the other, the urban, Blackberry-toting notion of “working smarter.”

Now, Mark Williams has written on this subject on the Guardian Small Business Network, here.

Before I forget, if you want good advice, insight and best practice delivered direct to your inbox, it’s worthwhile signing up to become a member of the Guardian Small Business Network – details are here. The Network is a dedicated community where you can gain access to best practice resources, expert advice, live Q&As and entrepreneur blogs.

Could you work more efficiently as a business owner and cut down your working hours? If you want to work fewer hours, running your own business probably isn’t the wisest option. According to a survey by call-handling service provider Penelope, micro-business owners work an average of 52 hours a week – significantly more than the UK average of 37.

But it seems that an inefficient use of time could be partly responsible for owners working longer hours. “Whether unintentionally or not, many of us don’t work as efficiently as possible some or even most of the time,” observes Robert Craven, business development consultant, author and founder of The Directors’ Centre in Bath. “Some owners mistakenly believe that working long hours is the key to success, when they should be working smarter not longer.”

I’m still voting for the working smarter option. Am I right? Comment below…

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Martin Pollins

Managing Director at One Smart Place

Martin Pollins is a Chartered Accountant and MBA with wide experience in corporate finance and business management. He has served on the boards of several companies, including those listed on the London Stock Exchange, AIM and OFEX. He is Chairman and Founder of OneSmartPlace and was a Council member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales from 1988 to 1996. He was managing partner of PRB Martin Pollins, based in Sussex, the first Accountancy firm to advertise on British television.He went on to create and launch the CharterGroup Partnership (the UK’s first Accountancy network) and then LawGroup UK (at the time, one of the largest networks of lawyers in the UK). In recent years, he helped to raise several £millions to fund British films such as The Da Vinci Code, Bridge of San Luis Rey, Head in the Clouds and Merchant of Venice with actors such as Charlize Theron, Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, F. Murray Abraham. Kathy Bates, Gabriel Byrne, Geraldine Chaplin, Tom Hanks, Ian McKellen, Audrey Tautou, Penélope Cruz, Steven Berkoff, Lynn Collins, Jeremy Irons, Joseph Fiennes and many more.

He has written over 700 business publications (see Glossaries at https://onesmartplace.com/resources/glossaries/) and is editor of Better Business Focus (see https://onesmartplace.com/resources/better-business-focus-magazine). His Blog, on a wide range of subjects can be found at: https://onesmartplace.com/blog/

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