6 ways sole traders can gain time back in 2024

2023 was challenging for small businesses and sole traders. If you want to get 2024 off to a good start, Selda Kaplan CEO and co-founder of TaxLeopard suggests trying these tips to claw back some time.

Rising interest rates and a volatile financial environment impacted businesses’ bottom lines. So much so that in February 2023, business confidence in Australia slumped by 10.6 points.

Furthermore, an August 2023 report by the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman showed that as many as 43 per cent of small businesses weren’t making a profit.

A new year, however, brings a new dawn of fresh opportunities and perspective. Research from COSBOA shows that consumer spending will be up in 2024 in industries like travel and experience, food and drink and entertainment, and despite a general slowdown, all businesses, regardless of size, are showing positive growth, highlighting the resilience of businesses in Australia.

SMBs and sole traders can go into this year with confidence but must look to ensure they don’t fall into the trap of creating unneeded stress and workload to their already busy schedules. This means gaining time back, focusing on deep, valuable work – and prioritising health and wellbeing.

Here are six ways sole traders can gain time back for a prosperous 2024.

Commit to taking holidays

Sole traders often struggle to take holiday, and when they do, fully switching off can be tricky. This is due to multiple reasons, not least that they’re the sole person in their business, so don’t have a team to pick things up in their absence. It is vital, however, to be disciplined and take the leave that they’d be entitled to if they were in full-time employment. And when taking leave, leave must mean leave. I.e. clients have been informed and emails are switched off. 2024 is the year that sole traders will set those boundaries and ensure they’re taking the time off that they deserve.

Set clear boundaries

Boundaries don’t just stop at taking leave. Sole traders and freelancers are their own bosses, spending hours on running the backend of their business, putting a hefty number of hours on business admin, and that’s on top of their job. Furthermore, research in the UK shows that sole traders are more than twice as likely to work from home, where boundaries between work and life are often even more blurred. Sole traders would do well to set boundaries, like taking an hour’s walk every morning before work, setting clear breaks in their calendar to ensure they aren’t perpetually glued to their desks or workspace, and maybe even setting parameters around meetings and calls – to ensure they aren’t getting bogged down in things that are impacting their workflow, productivity and happiness.

Use tech to look after tax

Taxes have traditionally been a major pain point for sole traders who often struggle to afford to pay an accountant to do their financial admin including BAS, end-of-year tax return and managing expenses. Managing it themselves can be a significant burden and prevent them from doing what they do best – running their business. In 2024, sole traders can ease the burden by capitalising on the technologies that are making managing taxes and accounting simple. There are one-stop accounting tools available that cover sole traders’ every accounting need, including bookkeeping, invoicing, BAS and tax return lodgement.

Automate bitty tasks

Repetitive admin tasks can sap time from business owners. Whether it’s sending recurring invoices, paying bills, chasing payments, sending and accepting meeting invites, or grammar checking emails and documents – small tasks take time. Automating bitty tasks gives you time to do deep, valuable work that you can bill for. Accounting software like TaxLeopard, AI-powered grammar-checking technology like Grammarly, and appointment scheduling software like Calendly – can all help to get those small, time consuming tasks checked off seamlessly.

Lean on freelance networks

The sole trader and freelance community is often interconnected and collaborative, particularly within industries. Sole traders can tap into these networks to ease their workload and stress. For example, if you are fully at capacity and a large amount of work unexpectedly lands on your desk, you can either subcontract the work to someone in your network or simply connect the person directly. Having a bank of skilled sole traders in your arsenal really helps when you have too much on your plate and need to outsource or defer work.

Put yourself first

According to a 2022 government survey, small business owners in Australia continue to experience high levels of mental ill-health. Over 1-in-5 small business respondents reported having been diagnosed with a mental ill-health condition by a doctor or health professional; 14 per cent reported an anxiety diagnosis; 12 per cent a diagnosis of depression; and 12 per cent were diagnosed with a stress-related problem. It is therefore vitally important that SMBs and sole traders take care of themselves and make their health and well-being their number one priority. Whether it’s spending more time in nature, having a meditation routine, prioritising exercise and fitness, eating healthily, or doing regular digital detoxes – sole traders must be kind to themselves and focus on the things that instil calmness and happiness in their lives.

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