Ask any small business owner what they do and expect a long answer. In short, they wear a lot of hats — some say too many. Small business owners have to juggle far more than what seems humanly possible, which takes away from their core purpose of leading the business.
New research from Talker Research (commissioned by Adobe Express) surveyed 1,000 small business owners in the U.S. Turns out they’re working over 200 bonus hours annually. Here’s a detailed look into the situation.
Key takeaways
- The multi-role burden is nearly universal. The average small business owner fills five distinct roles daily, racking up more than 200 extra hours per year.
- Creative and marketing tasks are the most underestimated. Most owners didn’t expect this and only 20% felt prepared for the demands.
- Outsourcing the work isn’t cost-effective and the owners want to stay close to their brand.
- AI adoption is growing, where half of small business owners are using AI tools, and nearly three-quarters say it’s boosted their confidence in doing unfamiliar tasks.
5 biggest demands on small business owners
The issue isn’t just the volume of work; it’s that the duties are outside of their wheelhouse. They’re simultaneously a customer service representative (54%), marketer (44%), bookkeeper (43%), social media manager (41%), and creative director (35%) — and that’s on top of being a business owner.
Only one in five (20%) felt prepared for the creative and brand marketing demands required of them when they launched their business. And more than half (56%) said those tasks pull them away from their core business at least once a week.
According to 41% of the respondents, they said cost is the main barrier to outsourcing this work. Also, a third of owners said they still want to stay close to the creative process and were concerned about lack of quality control if they hand off the work.
How AI can help small business owners
It’s no surprise that half of small business owners in the survey say they use AI tools regularly. The top use case is research (56%) with design and visual content creation following (46%). Of this, they describe themselves as capable of handling creative and marketing tasks, but they wish they could focus on other parts of their business instead.
Of the entrepreneurs who use AI, nearly 75% said AI increased their confidence in handling tasks outside of their comfort zone. “Small business owners have always had to do it all — but for the first time, they don’t have to do it alone,” said Parimal Deshpande, Global Head of Product Marketing, Adobe Express. “We’re seeing that AI isn’t replacing founders, entrepreneurs and small businesses’ voice or vision; it’s removing the friction that gets in the way of it.”
Of the tasks small business owners want to hand off, bookkeeping/finance and accounting were first at 25%, with marketing at 21% and social media at 18%.
Running a small business is no easy feat, but with the breadth of skills required — from brand design to social media strategy to bookkeeping — it’s even more difficult. The encouraging news is that tools like AI can help these entrepreneurs do more with less.
Methodology: Talker Research surveyed 1,000 American small business owners online between April 29 and May 3, 2026. The survey was commissioned by Adobe Express.
