Small business owners are juggling an average of seven different roles, and in turn prioritising lower-level tasks over critical processes such as marketing (32 per cent).
Thirty-five per cent owned up to buying the stationery, a fifth confessed to helping with office repairs, while 16 per cent get involved with the cleaning.
The research, conducted by Pitney Bowes, analysed the marketing habits of 500 small UK businesses, and found that while one in five businesses said they had a marketing plan, 35 per cent admitting to carrying out marketing activities on an ad-hoc basis.
Ryan Higginson, vice president digital channel Europe, at Pitney Bowes said, “Starting and then running a small business requires huge investment of time and money, while the owner of the business is often found approaching disciplines that he or she has little expertise in such as mobile marketing. However, this activity doesn’t need to fall by the wayside as a result of this resource issue – there are easy-to-use, time efficient tools available at a low cost that help small business effectively embrace newer digital marketing channels as well as support the traditional ones.”
