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Manual admin work isn’t for everyone as it is usually boring, repetitive and tedious. From recording transactions to email lists, this kind of work can be rough for some people. It also comes with some genuine issues for a freelancer, including lost revenue and increased errors.
Burnout and Turnover Issues
One of the worst things that can happen to a freelancer is becoming disengaged with work. When this happens, creativity stalls and productivity flatlines, and that means fewer tasks, fewer customers and ultimately, lower income. Boring micro tasks like paying subcontractors who work with you are repetitive, and mistakes lead to more costs. However, a payroll service can handle the petty tasks for you, and all you need to do is pay a small monthly fee for the privilege.
Potential for Lost Revenue
As a freelancer, every penny counts! When you spend time on low-value but necessary tasks like admin, the potential for earning is almost flat. This is time that you could be spending on your craft instead of tedious administration work. In fact, most freelancers spend around 20% of work time on admin tasks these days, meaning a £100 per hour job could lose £24,000 per year on admin alone! That’s a staggering sum that is better in your pocket by outsourcing admin!
Manual Admin Work Drains Focus
Switching between admin and creativity mode is a massive drain on productivity, and you need some form of automation or hired help to power through. A survey by Time Doctor found that maintaining focus is a challenge for freelancers who work from home, with 48% listing interruptions as the main issue. When developing a content marketing strategy for your business, the last thing you need is a knock at the door for a delivery that is for your neighbour!
Prone to Errors and Risk
When you manually enter administrative data, you are always prone to errors and risk. This is especially true if you are not focused on the task at hand, have minimal experience or don’t even understand what the task is. Things like tax returns can be very confusing for some people, especially if you have dyslexia and/or dyscalculia. As a result, you can also run into some pretty serious legal problems, such as fines and imprisonment for not paying taxes.
Potentially Slower Cash Flow
If there has ever been a case for automated systems, it is for invoicing! Manual invoicing is very slow and results in much slower payments, if you even get paid! You can also spend a large amount of time chasing payments for money owed as a freelancer. Fortunately, automated invoicing apps such as Zoho Invoice can do most of the work for you, so you can work on more important things like taking care of client jobs instead of stressing out about getting paid!
Summary
Burning out has many problems, and this includes becoming less productive. As a freelancer, manual admin and other boring tasks can get in the way of your work. It also leads to a loss of focus when you need to be at your best, and spending time on admin also reduces cash flow.
