How much time do you spend on administrative "stuff?" A recent survey of small business owners finds that only 32 percent of their time is spent on important parts of business management. Time consumed by lower priority duties could be much better spent thinking about your business, rather than being trapped in your business day in, day out.

Here are three signs the time has come to hire an office manager:

Your cash-flow situation is in chaos.

Collecting payment for products or services and disbursing funds to pay your bills, labor costs etc. takes time. If you're swamped by money-related paperwork and your cash-flow situation is a hot mess, you need an office manager to step in.

You can't get a handle on your schedule.

Maintaining your calendar isn't easy. Meetings get double-booked, clients cancel at the last minute, email threads containing key scheduling information are overlooked, and so on. An office manager can set things straight.

Customer service is slipping.

If your employees are handling administrative tasks, chances are the workplace is disorganized and inefficient. This can lead inaccurate customer orders, failing to address customer complaints and, as a result, losing customers to more efficient competitors.