With the unprecedented events of 2020, many businesses have gone from growing to just getting by. While 85% of survey respondents say revenue grew from 2018 to 2019, three-quarters (75%) say their business has been hurt by COVID-19, which impacts their bottom line.

Changes in revenue mean changes to everyday operations.

The overwhelming majority of the survey respondents (88%) says COVID-19 has affected their business operations. This means almost 1 in 4 (23%) business owners are personally taking on more day-to-day tasks as they adapt to survive.

The study found that small business owners spend, on average, 31 hours a week on day-to-day business operations. But almost two-thirds (65%) say their businesses would be better positioned for long-term growth if they could take a step back and look at the bigger picture again.

Even so, 97% of small business owners say they personally manage at least one area of business operations.

These are the top six business operations most likely to be managed personally by business owners, according to the QuickBooks Live survey:

1. Payroll 49%
2. Sales 42%
3. Human resources 41%
4. Marketing 40%
5. Customer service 40%
6. Bookkeeping 34%

Pro tip: Identify your growth stage and set your priorities

The growth stage you're in dictates where to invest the most time and energy. In the Harvard Business Review, Neil C. Churchill and Virginia L. Lewis describe five stages of business growth: existence, survival, success, take-off, and maturity.

Many businesses have been pushed back into the

"existence" and "survival" phases in 2020 - where the owner shoulders many of the operations responsibilities. Michael E. Gerber describes this phenomenon as working "in" your business not "on" your business. Are you currently working more in your business than on it? How could you better align your priorities with your daily work?

Plenty of business owners - even those who think they're delegating appropriately - have a tough time getting out of their own way.

The majority of business owners surveyed (97%) say they consider themselves good delegators who know when to assign tasks to others.

Even so, 96% of the survey respondents admit they are reluctant to let go of the reins and delegate. That's even harder when cash flow is tight and it's hard to find potential customers.

The top three reasons small business owners give for not stepping away from the operational side of their business are:

1. I prefer to keep it under my control 36%
2. I enjoy doing it myself 31%
3. It's critical that I have a grasp on it 31%

Pro tip: Understand what good delegation means

What does delegation mean to you? Good delegation isn't a total absence of responsibility. It's a mindset that allows managers and their teams to make mistakes and learn from them, according to the HBR. With clear guidelines for what is and isn't considered acceptable performance, you can better define what good delegation means to your business, and take another step toward faster growth.

1. Keep sight of the big picture

When you're running a business, it's easy to get pulled away from big-picture goals and into day-to-day operations. Take a step back to track your business's progress against your goals.

Then prioritize your time around activities that get you to the next growth stage fastest. If you're stuck in survival mode, what processes can you streamline?

Dedicate time to invest in strategic thinking and participate in activities focused on growing your business.

2. Delegate what you can

You might be better positioned if you leave everyday business tasks to the experts, sooner rather than later. Remember, 65% of business owners say they'd be better positioned for growth if they freed up time by working on fewer business operations themselves.

Get a clear understanding of where your strengths - and weaknesses - lie so you can get the support you need. Who's best suited to take care of tasks like payroll, sales, human resources, marketing, customer service, or bookkeeping? Some options could be re-assigning job duties, hiring a new staff member, investing in a do-it-for-you software solution, or outsourcing.

With more tasks off your plate, you'll be able to shift your focus back to business growth.

3. Trust your experts to do good work

Small business owners are proud of the businesses they've built. 38% say they wouldn't't want to outsource business operations because they prefer to keep them under their control. But many business operations are challenging and come with heavy consequences if someone makes a mistake.

Perhaps that's why so many business owners want help handling their finances. 22% would prefer to outsource payroll to a vendor, 17% would outsource tax preparation and filing, and 16% would outsource bookkeeping. Are you ready to step back, hire good people, and trust them to do a good job?

At any time, a small business's growth is dependent on its leader's decisions. But leaders can inhibit their own growth by spending too much time in the business and not enough time developing the business.

As your small business recovers from COVID-19, consider the leader you want to become and your hopes for the future. The time you spend building strategies today could be what makes your business stronger tomorrow.

To learn more about the ins-and-outs of bookkeeping take a look at our Ultimate Guide to Bookkeeping. If you want to free up time to focus on business growth, you can learn more about virtual bookkeeping here.