With trials of a four-day working week planned across the UK later this year¹ Martin Norbury, Britain’s Top 10 Business Adviser and author of #1 Amazon Bestseller ‘I don’t work Fridays’ warns that it’s Entrepreneurs who are most at risk.

Norbury explains:

“A four-day week for us is all about choice and the drive towards a healthier work-life balance; yet it’s our experience of working with small business owners across 65+ sectors that the biggest stumbling block is letting go; either letting go too early or not quick enough. To move to a four-day week, entrepreneurs will have to stop controlling everything and delegate, accepting that others may have their own ways of doing things.”

Norbury urges entrepreneurs:

“before you move to a four-day working week it’s important that you consider whether it’s actually possible for your business. In other words, do you 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 working week as it forces you 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 Entrepreneurs 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 entrepreneurs who simply don’t know their numbers or how their business is performing right now, let alone planning for the future.”

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

“The entrepreneurs 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 bandwagon and its essential they have an end game and a plan to get there.”

Norbury has helped hundreds of entrepreneurs successfully transition to reduced working hours via his mentoring programs so that business owner can have a business that runs on their own terms and that successfully runs whether they turn up or not.

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

In his #1 Amazon Bestseller ‘I don’t work Fridays’  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.

¹ More than 30 companies will take part in a six-month trial led by 4 Day Week Global, think tank Autonomy, and researchers at Oxford University, Boston College, and Cambridge University. The pilot scheme which will run from June 2022 to December 2022.

– Ends –

Martin Norbury is available to provide expert comment on business growth, investment, and exit. Please contact jacki@myadvocatementor.com or call 0203 603 1112 for further information / media photos.

Notes to editors:

About Martin Norbury & I don’t work Fridays:

Martin Norbury of Advocate Business Services went from small time entrepreneur to SME business owner and onto CEO of a multi-million-pound corporation in just ten years. His Scale Model™ is used across 65+ industries, earning him the badge of The Scalability Coach.  Martin in a multi-award-winning entrepreneur including:

• Entrepreneurs’ Champion of the Year Finalist 2019 (NatWest Great British Entrepreneur Awards)
• Britain’s Top 10 Business Adviser 2018 (Enterprise Nation)
• Champion of Entrepreneurship Top 25 (Smith & Williamson Power 100)
• Runner-Up of Profile of the Year Award 2015 (Daniel Priestley, Dent Global)
• Business Mentor of the Year 2015 (APCTC)
• Business Growth Advisor of the Year 2012 (The Entrepreneurs Circle)

In his #1 Amazon Bestseller I don’t work Fridays, Martin 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.

Photos available on request – jacki@myadvocatementor.com

Martin Norbury

Investor | Business Mentor at Advocate | Author of I don’t work Fridays