...The current state of politics within the stations may play a role, however to put things in context 2 hours to spawn missions plus another 3 to 4 hours of accomplishing them totals to about 5 to 6 hours with missions worth roughly about 20 million credits. A simple division brings this to 5 million credits an hour as an entrepreneur...
I'm Elite and make about 19M/hr. As Tycoon, I was making about 12M/hr. As Tycoon, I probably could've made more knowing what I know now. Last night, made 86M out of Takurua for 4.5 hr of effort. I suspect that you have much room to improve if you're only making 5M/hr. There are several factors that can contribute to time loss:
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1. Never fight pirates if you're about to jump to another system. The time to submit to interdiction and flee compared to the time to fight is significant, given the sheer number of pirates that want a piece of you.
2. Always kill pirates in small ships if you're interdicted in a destination system on route to a station. This prevents repeat interdictions which take more time than the initial fight.
3. If you're going to submit to interdiction with intent to flee, immediately drop throttle to 0 and keep the ship pointed towards your destination to avoid losing distance during the interdiction. You might still lose some distance but this tactic keeps it to a minimum. I once did this and broke the interdiction cuz I ran into a planet (emergency stop). It was hilarious cuz the pirate never knew what hit me and he didn't follow.
4. Sell all Hydrogen Fuel and Biowaste at the starting station and rebuy it within the bubble. You'll need to invest in locating good sources but this tactic increases your jump range to reduce travel time to the bubble. Some sources of Hydrogen Fuel and Biowaste (Nastrond, Terra Mater) require permits which are easily obtained but they're worth it as they provide both fuel and biowaste in contrast to other stations which only provide one or the other commodity.
5. If you're flying an Asp, use multiple fuel tanks rather than a fuel scoop and use Te Kaha as a way station to refuel. This minimizes the chance of interdiction on transit to the bubble. Using a big fuel scoop takes away too much cargo space. Using a med or small fuel scoop makes you a target for too many pirates and security (if you're smuggling).
6. If you're flying a Python, use a big fuel scoop and one small extra fuel tank to eliminate the need to refuel at Te Kaha. Locate waypoints (e.g. Wirigans) for inbound transit that provide a route full of scoopable stars yet keep you reasonably on course toward your initial delivery station. Using a big fuel scoop (size 5) keeps the topoff to the FSD cooldown period.
7. There's another trick with forcing a BB refresh to reliably get new missions but you'll have to send me a message to hear about it. While my method seems to increase the time to get new missions, it actually reduces the overall time.
8. If you're taking smuggling and delivery contracts, deliver all smuggling contracts first to minimize time loss in security interdictions for systems where you're not delivery illicit cargo. This may seem like you lose a little time making big in-bubble jumps but it does save time.
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P.S. In a Python, I usually accept around 70 to 120 missions for delivery in a single night.
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