Time Is Money: How Are Business Owners Spending In 2025?

Running a business in 2025 means splitting time between technology, sales, people management and finances. New research from NerdWallet UK, based on a survey of 500 small and medium-sized business owners, shows exactly where that time is going.

On average, owners are spending 6.9 hours a day each week on artificial intelligence and automation. Sales takes the biggest share of time at 7.6 hours a week, while strategy and planning is at the bottom with 6.8 hours. Admin and operational tasks are close behind sales at 7.3 hours, costing the average business nearly £19,000 a year.

The survey shows that business leaders are often caught up in short term needs. More time is spent on generating sales and running daily operations than on mapping out long term plans. For strategy, the lower time commitment works out at about £17,490 per year based on average earnings.

 

Who Is Spending The Most Time On AI?

 

While 22% of UK entrepreneurs say they do not use AI at all, the rest are finding more ways to bring it into their work. The largest share, 27%, spend between one and five hours a week on AI tasks, and 20% spend between 6-10 hours.

Those aged 25 to 34 are leading in adoption, spending an average of 8.2 hours a week on AI and automation which is well above the national average. At the lower end, 15% spend under an hour each week.

These tasks range from setting up AI tools to interpreting the insights they produce. Around a quarter of business owners are using AI for financial forecasting. This points to growing trust in technology to handle data-driven work that used to require hours of manual processing.

 

How Do Women Business Owners Use Their Time Differently?

 

The survey found that women business owners are making more efficient use of their working hours compared to men. Women spend about 40 hours a week on leadership tasks, while men spend 44.7 hours. That adds up to an extra 31 working days per year for men.

The largest time gap is in finance management, where men spend 1.3 hours more each week than women. This is equal to nine extra working days a year. Men also spend more time on AI, strategy, and admin than women, with admin alone taking them four extra working days annually.

The only category where women spend more time is HR and team coordination. This difference could mean that women leaders are more involved in people-related management while streamlining other areas of their workload.

 

 

How Are Business Owners Managing Their Finances?

 

The survey also looked at how SME business owners are handling their money. While accounting software is the most popular choice at 36%, a third still use spreadsheets or pen and paper. This is despite the time-saving tools available in modern bookkeeping.

Around 31% work with a financial adviser, and the same percentage pay an accountant to manage most of their finances. 27% handles all accounting alone, without any professional support.

A further 26% have an internal finance officer, and 22% use a bookkeeper. Friends or family are helping 21% of business owners with accounting tasks. These results show that while digital tools are making an impact, many owners are continuing to manage their money through manual methods or personal networks.

Amy Knight, business commentator at NerdWallet UK, commented, “Business owners are spending thousands each year on financial admin, representing a major opportunity to streamline, delegate, or automate with digital technology and AI and reinvest that time into higher-value work.

“As the deadlines to comply with Making Tax Digital approach, the need for small business owners to link their business bank account with HMRC-approved software is becoming increasingly urgent.

“Managing business finances is sapping British companies of hours of productive time. If you’re spending 10 hours a week on invoicing or reconciling expenses, that’s 10 hours not spent on higher-value work, like driving sales, diversifying your products or pitching for funding.

“The cumulative effect of this across the UK business population is having a detrimental impact on productivity and business growth.”

 

What Could Help Free Up More Leadership Time?

 

Amy Knight says choosing the right technology can help save time. Accounting software that links directly to a business bank account can make it quicker to get paid and track taxes. Many platforms also offer mobile tools for reviewing financial data in minutes.

She also brought up outsourcing as a way to free up hours for more valuable work. If the cost of an administrator is less than the value of the owner’s own time, hiring someone to take on admin tasks can make sense.

Knight adds that strategy does not have to be done in long sessions. Even 15 minutes a day spent reviewing margins or researching sales opportunities can add up to five hours a month… time that could make a real difference in how a business develops.