How To Lead When You Need To Do More With Less

CEO and Founder of BILL.

Entrepreneurs are impatient, and I mean that in the best way possible. After 30 years of building businesses, I’ve learned that being an entrepreneur requires the perfect balance of patience and impatience.

There are times when patience pays off—investing time in getting your product right is one of those. And then there are times when a bias for action is the right call. After all, impatience is what gets the entrepreneur to take action and start a company. Knowing when to lean into an opportunity for change or growth versus when to sit tight and stay the course can be difficult. Particularly for entrepreneurs, like myself, who are naturally impatient for improvement or who get frustrated with outdated or inefficient ways of doing things.

I’ve been thinking about this idea in the context of the challenges small businesses are currently facing. Whether adapting to the economic climate or growing their business, resources and time are finite. Businesses everywhere are always looking to be more efficient and to do more with less.

When “more” isn’t an option, the patient person may grin and bear it. But impatient leaders find creative solutions. They don’t wait for a better time to build efficiency; they look for better tools or ways of doing things now. I’ve found the following three approaches to be helpful:

Empower your team to focus on their highest-value work.

Employees do their best work when they’re engaged and feel valued. This is not only important for employees, it’s also good for business. Research has shown that companies with higher rates of employee engagement experience 23% higher profitability and 18% higher productivity compared to companies where employee engagement is lower.

What does engagement mean in practice? It goes beyond a competitive salary and benefits. It’s about how your team feels when they are doing their job. Are they stretched too thin? Are they connected to the business goals? Is the work interesting? Are they learning? Are they actively engaged with employees?

When resources are tight, there are ways to support a team to address all of the above questions without adding to the headcount. Technology and automation can make a huge impact in creating time and space that allows the team to create value. Whether it’s automating your calendar or streamlining manual tasks like data entry or invoicing, technology can save staff time and business resources. Automating repetitive or manual tasks not only frees up employees to focus on more high-value work that is accretive to the business, it also helps boost morale and improve employee engagement, enjoyment and motivation.

Build a “smarter” business.

My parents and grandparents started and ran their own businesses, and their passion has been a big motivator for my own career in serving SMBs. No two entrepreneurs have the same vision, but there are a few common denominators I’ve noticed: SMBs are agile, resilient and determined. They are always looking to improve. They value control, visibility and efficiency. And, as SMB owners have told me, they didn’t put their resources, reputation and energy on the line to spend all their time in the back office.

Building a smarter business can help drive a more efficient business. Can expenses be approved from the road? Do you have a good sense of cash flow? Are sales and customer KPIs in the cloud, updating in real time?

The truth I’ve found is that even with the right technology, there is a very real human element to running a business. ChatGPT can’t replace our judgment and entrepreneurs need to make countless decisions each day. The right technology can help entrepreneurs make smarter decisions more quickly.

Tools like cloud-based financial and accounting platforms, forecasting software or customer intelligence reporting can help you spot and respond to trends. These tools are not only good for the business—they also have a meaningful impact on the lives of business owners. As any entrepreneur knows, running a business is an “always on” proposition. Technology can empower entrepreneurs to run their businesses from anywhere, giving them more time to spend with customers, employees and family and friends.

Invest in tools that can grow with your business.

In a crowded market, choosing the right technology tools can be a challenge. Many businesses start by assessing their most urgent needs. However, if we only think about the short-term, we may end up costing ourselves more time, money and frustration on the back end. I’ve found that investing the time and resources upfront to automate as much as possible is the key to setting you and your business up for success.

For example, a point solution for accounts payable may solve the most urgent need today, but failing to consider tomorrow’s needs may lead to a full app store of niche solutions with separate contracts and a lack of integration. Point solutions are certainly better than paper and filing cabinets, but for long-term sustainability and success, it can be smarter to invest in tools that can scale with you.

I believe that taking the time to invest in platforms that maximize integration by bringing the right information together is worth the effort. Integrated tools can inform strategic planning and better, faster decisions and reduce time with guesswork to fill in the gaps.

In conclusion, it is possible to balance multiple priorities—ensuring sustainable growth, maintaining a competitive edge, keeping employees engaged and empowered—while working with fewer resources. There are many factors that impact success, but as a leader, I’ve found that it comes down to the tools used to support teams and run a more efficient business. Investing in the right tools can be transformative for a business now and into the future.

Forbes Business Council is the foremost growth and networking organization for business owners and leaders. Do I qualify?