How Manual Work Burns €34k–€86k/Year in Small Teams

Let's do some math that most founders avoid.

The setup:

Small team: 5 people

Average loaded cost per employee: €50-60k/year

That's roughly €25-30/hour

The hidden time sink:

In most teams I audit, each person spends 1.5-3 hours daily on tasks that could be automated:

• Manual data entry between systems
• Copy-pasting information
• Creating repetitive documents
• Sending routine follow-ups
• Generating reports
• Chasing status updates

Let's be conservative and say 2 hours/day per person.

The calculation:

2 hours × 5 people = 10 hours/day

10 hours × 220 working days = 2,200 hours/year

2,200 hours × €25-30/hour = €55,000-€66,000/year

That's mid-range. In teams with more administrative overhead, I regularly see 3+ hours/day, pushing the cost to €82,500-€99,000.

What this actually means:

You're paying for a full-time employee (or more) just to do work that machines should handle. Every year. Forever.

Meanwhile, that time could go toward:

• Acquiring new customers
• Improving your product
• Building relationships
• Strategic thinking

The comparison:

Most automation projects I build cost €2,000-€8,000 as a one-time investment. Some require modest monthly platform costs (€50-200).

ROI timeline? Usually 4-8 weeks to break even. Then it's pure savings.

Why this persists:

Manual work is invisible. It doesn't show up as a line item. It's distributed across your team in 15-minute chunks that feel insignificant.

But insignificant adds up. 15 minutes × 8 times daily × 5 people × 220 days = 2,200 hours. Same number.

The action step:

Track it for one week. Have each team member log time spent on repetitive tasks. No judgment, just data.

Then multiply by 220 and your hourly cost.

That number is what automation could save you.