Built Not Born Podcast · 30 May 2025
Business Efficiency Hacks: 10 Time Management Tips Every Entrepreneur Needs to Know
Practical ways to manage time, stay accountable and create more space for business growth without letting day-to-day operations take over.
Episode guide
About this episode
Running more than one business creates a simple problem: operational work can fill every available hour unless growth is deliberately protected. In this episode, Chris and Helen Butler explain the habits they use to decide what deserves their time and how they keep important projects moving alongside the everyday demands of customers, staff and delivery.
A central idea is to judge new activity by whether it contributes to growth or adds meaningful value to the business or customer. That filter helps them push lower-value work down the list and focus attention on projects, systems and decisions that can improve the business rather than simply keeping everyone busy.
They also discuss the language of time management. Instead of treating a lack of time as something outside their control, they look at what they chose to prioritise. Their weekly accountability meeting gives that principle a practical structure, with regular reviews of sales, growth priorities and a small number of actions that should move the businesses forward.
Delegation is another important part of the picture. Chris and Helen describe how having a team they trust has allowed them to step away from more day-to-day operational tasks. They also involve the team in growth plans and actively seek feedback on processes, leadership and customer experience, including creating ways for employees to give honest feedback without the founders being in the room.
The episode also looks at goals, experimentation and the willingness to pivot. Chris shares examples of spending significant time or money developing systems before deciding they would create more work than value. Rather than continue because of the investment already made, they prefer to stop, learn from the attempt and change direction quickly.
Finally, they explain how they separate operational systems from growth planning. Their CRMs manage the day-to-day activity of the businesses, while Notion is used to track annual goals, growth projects and strategic work. If little or no time has been spent in that growth system by the weekly review, it is an immediate signal that operations have taken over. They also discuss keeping cash in the business to fund future investment and maintaining personal and family goals alongside commercial ones.
Key takeaways
What you'll learn
- Prioritise new work that directly supports business growth or creates clear value for the business or customer.
- Treat time as a fixed resource and be honest about what has actually been prioritised rather than defaulting to saying there was no time.
- Use a fixed weekly accountability session to review progress, sales, growth activity and a small number of clear actions.
- Build enough trust in the team to delegate operational work, involve them in the wider vision and make space for leadership and growth.
- Ask for constructive feedback from employees and customers so inefficient processes and leadership blind spots can be addressed.
- Set annual goals, review them regularly and stay willing to change direction when a plan or system is no longer producing the intended result.
- Separate operational systems from growth planning so it is obvious when strategic work has been neglected, and protect enough cash to fund future growth.
Questions from this episode
Frequently asked questions
How can entrepreneurs make more time for business growth?
Chris and Helen recommend deliberately separating growth work from day-to-day operations, prioritising activities that contribute to growth or add clear value, and protecting a regular block of time to review and progress those activities.
Why do Chris and Helen use a weekly accountability meeting?
They use a fixed weekly meeting to review sales, growth priorities and the actions they committed to. It helps stop operational work from pushing strategic projects aside for weeks or months.
How do they separate operational work from strategic growth work?
Their business CRMs are used for day-to-day operations, while a separate Notion system tracks annual goals, growth projects and other non-operational activity. This makes it easier to see whether enough time has been spent moving the businesses forward.
When should a business owner pivot or stop a project?
The episode argues for reassessing a project when it is no longer solving the intended problem or is creating more work than value. Chris and Helen share examples where they stopped systems after investing time or money because continuing would have compounded the problem.
Why do they keep cash in the business?
They retain cash to support future growth plans, investment and unexpected needs rather than automatically drawing out everything the business can afford to distribute.