The Four-Day Workweek: Why and How Small Business Owners Need to Prepare Now

Figures from the Office for National Statistics suggests that almost 2.7 million workers across full- and part-time work in the UK are working a four-day week. Whilst pilots have shown many benefits for both workers and companies, Scale Expert and author of Amazon #1 bestselling book I don’t work Fridays warns small business owners to be fully prepared before they embark on a four-day week.

Sam Hunt, Business Network Coordinator at the 4 Day Week Foundation, told The Guardian: “The number of workers that have switched to a four-day week since Covid is very significant. We're only at the very beginning of a four-day week being rolled out across the UK but we absolutely believe it can become the norm within 10 years."

Pilots have shown that the four-day week has led to better staff well-being and motivation, improvements in productivity and business performance, rises in staff retention and recruitment, increases in revenues, and a reduction in the number of sick days. Martin Norbury warns small business owners of key considerations before jumping on the bandwagon:

“We celebrate a four-day week as for us it’s all about choice and the drive towards a healthier work-life balance; after all we’ve been successfully doing it in our own business for ten years now.Yet it’s our experience of working with thousands of small business owners that the biggest stumbling block is letting go; either letting go too early or not quick enough. To successfully move to a four-day week, small business owners must stop controlling everything and start delegating, accepting that others may have their own (and better!) ways of doing things.”

Norbury urges small business owners:

“Before a small business moves to a four-day week, it’s important that they consider whether it’s possible for their business. In other words, do they have the structure in place to support it?Businesses will benefit from having a more structured approach to operations because of transitioning to a four-day week as it forces them to have a plan. It makes businesses act more transparently, have more visibility, and to communicate more effectively.”

Once the business owner has let go and has the right structure in place, Norbury explains the next challenge of moving to a four-day week:

“It’s our experience that business owners simply don’t know enough about their business; they throw everything at it and hope something sticks. To make the shift to a reduced working week, owners will have to get intimate with their business to understand the impact on productivity and profitability. I’ve met too many owners who simply don’t know their numbers or how their business is performing right now, let alone in the future.”

One final challenge many businesses face is a lack of focus. Norbury elaborates:

“A large percentage of small business owners that I’ve worked with are all fantastic at the start-up phase; their hard work and commitment is incredible. But by nature, many become distracted by shiny new tools or the ‘next big thing’. They mustn’t just jump on the four-day week bandwagon unless they have an end game and a clear plan to get there.”

Norbury has helped hundreds of business owners successfully transition to reduced working hours via his mentoring programs so that business owners can have a business on their own T.E.R.M.S and that successfully runs whether they turn up or not.

Norbury concludes:

“When businesses have transitioned to a four-day week, one of the biggest things the owners and their employees benefit from is improved mental health. They can spend more time with their friends and family, spend less time commuting, and they come back on Monday feeling better rested.”

In his #1 Amazon Bestseller I don’t work Fridays Martin Norbury explains why the entrepreneur is the wrong person to grow their business, and reveals a simple 5-step formula to give leaders confidence, a clear structure and process to follow, and a set of simple tools to help business owners achieve growth and realise their ambitions – without growing broke.