The Founder Task Delegation Database
200+ Tasks You Shouldn’t Be Doing (And Exactly How Much They’re Costing You)
If you’re doing most of the things on this list: you don’t own a business , you own a job. This is your wake-up call!
These 200+ tasks are killing your growth, draining your energy, and wasting the most valuable asset you have: your focus.
We built this database so you can get brutally honest about what’s keeping you stuck — and how to start buying back your time to get out of the Revenue Rut you’ve been stuck at.
The $100/hour question isn’t “how can I get more done?”, but rather, “what am I doing that I should never touch again?”
If your time is worth $100/hour (conservative for most business owners at $100K–$300K revenue):
Every 30 minutes wasted = $50 burned.
Every 10 hours/week wasted = $1,000/month down the drain.
Let’s get painfully specific!!!
Admin & Executive Tasks:
Inbox management → Executive Assistant (EA)
Time Wasted: ~10 hours/week → $1,000/week → $4,000/month
Why This Hurts: You're burning a full workweek every month digging through emails.Calendar blocking → EA
Time Wasted: ~3 hours/week → $300/week → $1,200/month
Why This Hurts: You’re doing $100/hour scheduling when you could be closing deals.Travel booking → EA
Time Wasted: ~2 hours/trip → $200/trip
Why This Hurts: You're shopping flights while your pipeline grows cold.Document formatting → Admin VA
Time Wasted: ~1 hour/document → $100 every time
Why This Hurts: You're playing novice designer when you should be making CEO decisions.Note-taking during calls → EA or Ops Assistant
Time Wasted: ~1 hour/call (between distracted listening and post-call cleanup) → $100/call
Why This Hurts: You're missing key points and follow-up items that cost revenue and make it hard for you to turn your brain off at night when you remember that thing you were supposed to send 3 days ago at 9:00 PM.Expense categorization → Bookkeeper or EA
Time Wasted: ~5 hours/month → $500/month
Why This Hurts: QuickBooks is not where CEO time belongs.Filing receipts → EA
Time Wasted: ~1 hour/month → $100/month
Why This Hurts: You're risking tax deductions to save $100.Scheduling meetings → EA
Time Wasted: ~2 hours/week → $200/week → $800/month
Why This Hurts: You're playing calendar Tetris at founder rates.
Sales Tasks You Shouldn’t Be Touching:
Cold lead follow-up → Sales VA
Time Wasted: ~5 hours/week → $500/week → $2,000/month
Why This Hurts: Delayed follow-up = cold leads = lost sales.No-show reschedules → EA or Client Concierge
Time Wasted: ~1 hour/day → $500/week → $2,000/month
Why This Hurts: You're doing $10/hour admin work at $100/hour pricing.CRM updates → Sales VA
Time Wasted: ~2 hours/week → $200/week → $800/month
Why This Hurts: Pipeline chaos = deals slipping through cracks.Lead scraping → Marketing Assistant or Sales VA
Time Wasted: ~3 hours/list → $300/list
Why This Hurts: Founders should generate revenue, not scrape LinkedIn.Client onboarding calls → Account Manager or Onboarding Coach
Time Wasted: ~2 hours/client → $200/client
Why This Hurts: You’re repeating yourself 10x a month. If you get 10 clients a month, that’s $2,000 down the drain, and the loss only multiplies as you continue to grow and you try and do it all yourself.Reminder emails before sales calls → EA or Sales VA
Time Wasted: ~30 minutes/day → $50/day → $1,000/month
Why This Hurts: Every no-show costs you more than this role would.
Marketing Tasks You Should Offload:
Posting Reels or TikToks → Marketing VA
Time Wasted: ~1 hour/day → $500/week → $2,000/month
Why This Hurts: Sitting on content = sitting on pipeline.DM responses → Social Media VA
Time Wasted: ~30 minutes/day → $50/day → $1,000/month
Why This Hurts: Delayed replies = lost leads. The first company to answer is almost always the one to get the job!Email list segmentation → Email VA or Strategist
Time Wasted: ~4 hours/month → $400/month
Why This Hurts: Bad segmentation = lower sales and deliverability.Commenting for engagement → Community Assistant
Time Wasted: ~3 hours/week → $300/week → $1,200/month
Why This Hurts: Audience growth dies without daily engagement.Updating ‘link in bio’ → Admin VA
Time Wasted: ~30 minutes/change → $50 per link change
Why This Hurts: Missed clicks = missed sales.Sending newsletters → Marketing VA
Time Wasted: ~2 hours/email → $200 per send → $800/month (for weekly sends)
Why This Hurts: Inconsistent sends = audience cold = less revenue.
Client Success Tasks to Hand Off:
Client reminders → Success Manager or EA
Time Wasted: ~1 hour/day → $500/week → $2,000/month
Why This Hurts: Missed appointments = churn risk.Quality control check-ins → Customer Support Lead
Time Wasted: ~2 hours/week → $200/week → $800/month
Why This Hurts: Preventable mistakes creates more work and raises the risk of refunds.Feedback collection → Client Concierge
Time Wasted: ~1 hour/client → $100/client
Why This Hurts: No feedback = no testimonials = weaker sales later.Review generation → Customer Support VA
Time Wasted: ~2 hours/week → $200/week → $800/month
Why This Hurts: No reviews = lower conversion rates.Client onboarding steps → EA or Onboarding Coordinator
Time Wasted: ~3 hours/client → $300/client
Why This Hurts: Sloppy onboarding = buyer’s remorse.
Finance & Ops Tasks You Should Stop Doing:
Paying vendor invoices → EA or Bookkeeper
Time Wasted: ~1 hour/week → $100/week → $400/month
Why This Hurts: Late payments damage vendor relationships.Tracking receipts → EA or Finance VA
Time Wasted: ~2 hours/month → $200/month
Why This Hurts: Missed deductions = higher tax bill.Filing quarterly taxes → Accountant
Time Wasted: ~6 hours/quarter → $600/quarter → $2,400/year
Why This Hurts: DIY taxes at $100/hour makes zero sense.Payroll → Bookkeeper or Gusto
Time Wasted: ~1 hour/run → $100/payroll run
Why This Hurts: Mistakes or missed deadlines = legal risk + angry employees.Vendor management → EA or Ops Manager
Time Wasted: ~2 hours/week → $200/week → $800/month
Why This Hurts: Decision fatigue and lost leverage.
Project Management Tasks That Kill Your Focus:
Assigning tasks in Asana → Ops Manager
Time Wasted: ~3 hours/week → $300/week → $1,200/month
Why This Hurts: You’re being a project manager, not a founder.Following up on deadlines → Project Coordinator
Time Wasted: ~2 hours/week → $200/week → $800/month
Why This Hurts: You’re chasing people instead of building systems.Status updates → PM Assistant
Time Wasted: ~1 hour/week → $100/week → $400/month
Why This Hurts: Lack of visibility = fires later.Writing SOPs from scratch → EA or Systems Specialist
Time Wasted: ~4 hours per SOP → $400 per SOP
Why This Hurts: Loom it once, have someone else write it.Managing Slack channels → EA or Team Lead
Time Wasted: ~5 hours/week → $500/week → $2,000/month
Why This Hurts: Context switching = productivity killer.
Total Potential Savings:
Even if you’re only doing 10–20 of these tasks regularly, you’re leaking $3,000–$10,000/month in wasted founder time. . . And that’s at just $100/hour.
If your time’s worth more? Multiply accordingly.
You Need to Fire Yourself from 80% of Your Task List.
What would change in your business if you:
Never opened your inbox again without a prioritized summary?
Never had to explain your offer on a client call again?
Never manually rescheduled a no-show or chased a late invoice?
This isn’t a fantasy. It’s exactly what we build for SmartStart clients every day!
Download SmartStart’s Full Delegation Cost Calculator
Input your real time spent per task
See your personalized monthly “time tax”
Get your delegation priority roadmap
Want SmartStart to Run This for You?
We’ll audit your time, build your delegation plan, staff your team, and get 30+ hours/week off your plate… in the next 30 days.
