Rush Hour Time bandits.

Busy entrepreneurs agree: Administrative tasks take a big bite out of tight management schedules. Small Business Administration: How Small Businesses Maximize Productive Time, a 1997 national survey conducted by Comprehensive Business Services (CBS), revealed that 81 percent of small-business owners rank administrative functions among their most time-consuming tasks.

"Small-business owners need to do a lot of different things to be successful," says Charles White at Mission Viejo, California-based CBS. Compounding the challenge, unavoidable duties such as accounting generate no revenue--while gobbling up as much as 15 hours per week for the average small-business owner.

Where can you find relief? An increasingly popular solution is outsourcing. Eighty-two percent of the business owners surveyed outsource accounting and payroll operations--a smart move, according to the numbers: Sixty-eight percent of those who outsource financial functions report saving up to 10 hours per week. "As entrepreneurs prioritize their activities," says White, "outsourcing is an obvious avenue to becoming more efficient."

New Wave

You could say Marko Babic, 31, has surfed his way to success. Asa longtime surfer, "I knew the benefits of neoprene and alwaysdreamed of creating a product out of it," says the SantaMonica, California, entrepreneur of the porous fabric used to makewet suits.

The idea for Cellsuits--a line of sporty cellular phonecovers--came naturally when Babic found nothing but bulky, boringcellular phone covers when he shopped for one for himself. Curiouswhether there was a market for his colorful, wet suit-inspireddesigns, Babic attended a consumer electronics trade show in early1996 and learned that accessories were becoming an important partof the wireless communications business. He took his ideas to thedrawing board, and soon the Flipper (for flip-top phones), theBanana Peel (which peels back to reveal the keypad) and the Joey (auniversal pouch) designs were born.

Reaching $1 million plus in sales in its first six months,Babic's company, GoNeo LLC, quickly garnered a worldwidelicensing agreement with ocean-activewear giant Body Glove. Babicand his partners, Sebastian Grande, 27, and Jeff Galant, 31, haveseen no letup since they left their full-time jobs in late 1996.Says Babic, "The business didn't really [take off] untilwe quit our jobs and went for it 100 percent." Spoken like atrue surfer.

Glowing Report

Candles aren't just for dinner parties or power outagesanymore. Marketed in an increasing variety of creative and funkyshapes, sizes and scents, candles are revamping our homes, officesand even our sense of well-being.

The latest scented candles sport such captivating names as Zestfor Life and Peaceful Nights, and inviting shapes, such asseashells, chocolate candies and the lifelike fruits and vegetablesin ACG Green's Candlez line (at left). Sales of candleaccessories are red-hot, too, with elaborately formed holdersshaped like everything from musical notes to bird cages.

And as other consumer trends go, so go candles, says WilliamLlanes, regional sales manager for ACG Green in Santa Fe Springs,California: "Our coffee candle is really hot right now,"appealing to men in particular. Next on ACG's agenda: Wake upand smell its teacup candles, scented with chamomile tea and applecinnamon.

Is it all about control, with consumers seeking to influence thevery air around them? Or perhaps candles' popularity is part ofthe pre-millennium trend toward the ethereal. Whatever theexplanation, retailers and wholesalers don't expect this flameto burn out anytime soon.

Good Connections

For new business owners, networking isn't an option;it's a necessity. Whether pursued as a way to contribute toyour bottom line or to explore been-there, done-that solutions fromothers in your industry, networking is one of the smartest movesyou can make. How to make it pay off--painlessly? Networkingstrategists Anne Baber and Lynne Waymon show you in SmartNetworking: How to Turn Contacts Into Cash, Clients, & CareerSuccess (Kendall/Hunt Publishing, $18, 800-352-2939). Theauthors credit insights drawn from participants in theirinteractive networking workshops for this practical tutorial.

Defining networking as "small talk with a target,"Baber and Waymon go beyond the traditional be-a-good-listeneradvice. Proffering a "new mind-set about businesscontacts," Smart Networking places people skills at apremium.

In an examination of "the art of rainmaking,"you'll learn to assess your customer base and identifypotential clients. You'll also learn to track, measure and stayin touch with leads.

Start It Up

Thanks to the excellent reader response to our April article"Shoestring Start-Ups," we wanted to offer someadditional resources to help you launch the businesses mentioned.For information on:

• Image Consulting: Association of Image ConsultantsInternational, 1000 Connecticut Ave. N.W., #9, Washington, DC20036, (800) 383-8831

• Inventory Counting Service: APICS, Education Society forResource Management, 500 W. Annanbale Rd., Falls Church, VA 22046,(800) 444-2742

• In-Store Demonstration: Field Marketing ServicesAssociation, 8566 Laureldale Dr., Laurel, MD 20724, (800)338-6232

• Medical Transcription: American Association for MedicalTranscription, P.O. Box 576187, Modesto, CA 95357-6187, (209)551-0883, http://www.aamt.org/aamt

• Pet-Sitting: National Association of Professional PetSitters, (800) 296-PETS, http://www.petsitters.org

• Photography: Robert Kowtko, Silhouette Studios, 1305Welsh Rd., Warrington, PA 18976, http://www.voicenet.com/~robk/photography

• Tax-Form Preparation: California Society of EnrolledAgents, 3200 Ramos Cir., Sacramento, CA 95827, (800) TAX-PROS

• Utility Service Marketing: Robert Danielson, Danielsonand Associates, info@electric4less.com; http://www.electric4less.com

Food For Thought

News, facts and figures to spark ideas for new and betterbusinesses.

• Hear them roar: Wondering where to aim your advertisingdollar? The buying power of women continues to surge: Recentestimates from the International Mass Retailing InstituteConvention place 35 per-cent of women ahead of their husbands inannual earnings.

• Food stuff: We can put a man on the moon, but can wemake it easier to eat right? While 79 percent of Americansacknowledge the connection between nutrition and health, only 39per-cent actively pursue healthy diets, according to the AmericanDietetic Association's 1997 Nutrition TrendsSurvey--down from 44 percent in 1991.

• Mrs. Mom: Is it back to the future (or just aconservative backlash)? Although his conclusions are controversial,economist Richard Hokenson contends more mothers are heading home,at least until their kids grow up.

Two-income marriages still outnumber single-earner families twoto one, but in many up-scale neighborhoods, the number of womenchoosing the mommy van over the briefcase could make this a marketworth investigating.

Contact Sources

ACG Green, (800) 888-6861, ext. 103

Comprehensive Business Services, (800) 323-9000, http://www.comprehensive.org

GoNeo LLC, (310) 458-3854, http://www.goneo.com