Simon Duffy, the co-founder of Bulldog, split tasks with his business partner in order to start up the male skincare brand and turn it into a product which is sold around the world and which turned over $4.5 million last year.
Duffy told SmartCompany his business partner takes care of all the operational and supply chain matters.
“My role is probably 25% working with buyers for retail in the UK, 25% travelling to potential and existing new markets to meet press and retailers and companies to collaborate with, 25% in the UK in promotion so press, speeches and anything about communicating the brand and 25% on improving existing products and working on new products,” he says.
Duffy says a continued split “close to that” is how he would like to continue spending his time.
“I always want to be involved in innovation and what comes next for Bulldog and I always want to be getting out there and meeting people. So if one thing had to go, I would probably take time off the administration I spend on UK retailers and put more time into international development because it is a real pleasure to travel around the world meeting people and see the products you have developed.”
For Kate Hannemann, the managing director and founder of communications agency Communikate Et Al, the key to her success has been dividing her time into six key areas.
First is being an ambassador for her business, liaising with existing clients and referrers and any public presentations, which she estimates takes 25% of her time and is something she would maintain.
Secondly is exploring new opportunities through new clients and services, which currently takes 15% of Hanneman’s time and which she would like to increase to 20% of her time.
Hannemann spends 35% of her time on support for her executive team, a percentage she would like to pull back to 25%.
She spends 10% of her time on partnerships with the community and business and 5% on finance, which are both percentages she would maintain.
Finally, she currently spends 10% of her time on business planning and leadership development, an area she would increase to 15% ideally.
“That involves things like my involvement in Entrepreneurs’ Organisation; I’ve always had some business coaching and have found that an entrepreneurial take on leadership has been key for me along with peer support,” Hannemann says.
As the chief executive and founder of Scan Conversion Services, Richard Bates says delegation has enabled him to create a business with a turnover of $4 million.
“Most of my time is spent liaising with new clients and bringing new business and business partnerships, I have a general manager and they have the role of managing any staff issues or resource issues,” he says.
“I take the view of spending more time with the clients as they are the ones who tell me where the market is going and they keep the business alive.”
Bates estimates he spends 60% of his time with clients and business partners, 20% with staff and product development and 20% of his time in management meetings and strategy meetings with the leadership team.
“I think the mix is right, you can’t be with the clients all the time and lose track of your own office,” he says.
“We hired our first general manager three years ago and by that stage I had got quite exhausted working incredibly long hours and trying to do everything.”
Bates recommends delegating internally and externally and says entrepreneurs should not be afraid of using partners to give them the flexibility that they need.
“Look at whether there is anyone in the organisation that can achieve the task, basically give it to the person who is capable of doing it so you use the people who are more capable to do the things others can’t,” he says.
Cara Waters is a former SmartCompany editor. Previously, Cara was a senior reporter for the Financial Times’ website and worked for The Sunday Times in London.
