What Does a Business Support Officer Do?

 

Understanding the role of a business support officer can help lessen your workload and reduce your stress level. 

Thinking of hiring business support for your office? These employees can help with everything from overtime management to customer enquiries. Could this specialist be the employee missing from your team? If you have a heavy workload and lots of loose ends to fulfil each day, hiring someone to help you with it will lighten the load and free up your time to make more money. Business support officers help you get back on track with prioritizing your workload. 

Here is what you need to know about what a business support officer does to help you and about what their qualifications and useful skills might be.

Why you Need a Business Support Officer

Business support officers are a unique type of support worker. When your day-to-day workload outweighs everything else, you start to lose money. Whenever you start a business, you become the head of the organization. You are the chief income earner and the place where the buck stops. Everything comes back to you.

While it feels wonderful to own and operate your own business, you cannot do everything by yourself. A business support officer does exactly as their title suggests. They offer support while you get on with the smooth running of your operation. Freeing up your time means you can work on other things, important things, things that you cannot run your business without doing. Things like accounting, payroll management, sourcing leads, or procurement. 

What does a Business Support Officer Do?

A business support officer does all the little bits that slow down your day. As an SME owner, you might start your day by going through emails. You could check the overnight sales and start fulfilling orders. You might get to stop for a breath and a sandwich around 1pm. You could even work especially late into the evenings because you don’t finish until you complete the tasks.

With a Business Support Officer by your side, this workday could return to a normal 9-5. They can check your mail and then prioritize it. Imagine not having to start your day by dumping 6 emails in the bin. After that, your BSO is there to assist you throughout the day. They could set up workspaces, help you with accounts, enter data on your behalf, manage your diary, they can help with spreadsheets, HR, PR, social media marketing, and more. By the time they take on and produce the work, you will find the day goes faster and you make more money.

Skills and Qualifications of the Business Support Worker

Would you believe that the UK Secret Intelligence Service, also known as SIS or M16, use business support officers all the time? The skills they list as important to the role include sound judgement, organizational skills, professionalism, teamwork, good communication skills and close attention to detail. Should you choose to work with SIS as a business support officer, you can expect either to enter on the corporate side which assists in the smooth running of the company, or your team may be dedicated to the collection of national intelligence. We are not suggesting your run off and join the national spy agency, but we do appreciate the description of skills of a business support officer that they list. 

Qualifications of a Business Support Officer

Some employers do not require their support officers to have any official qualifications. Employers might ask for years of experience in administrative duties but not always necessary. If you would like a job in business support straight out of study, the best chance you can give yourself of starting work immediately is to study a business degree, You could pick up modules in other related things. A module on taxation and accounts, in spreadsheet management, and on advertising or marketing will really help you grasp the concepts you will work with day to day. 

Extracurricular activities, a background working closely with a small business or an internship/apprenticeship can really help. So although there are no official qualifications needed, the more skills you can gather which relate to the job, the better off you will be.

How much do you earn as a business support officer?

If you live in the UK and you want to hire a BSO for your business, expect to pay them a starting salary of between £19 and £24 thousand pounds. As the person gains experience, you should incrementally increase their salary each year. By the time they are experienced, their wage ought to be £30,000 -£50,000 instead of £20k. 

Do You Need a BSO?

Do you need a business support officer to step up and help you? If your days are overfull, it could be the answer.