Business automation involves taking processes or tasks that you would do every day during work and using technology to perform them instead. This can also be called business process automation or task automation. It allows businesses to digitize simple tasks and business processes which, in turn, enables the business owner or employees time to focus on more important tasks.
Where can automated business solutions be used?
Automated business solutions can be used in many fields of work. These include IT, retail, real estate, manufacturing, construction and trades just to name a few. Even your own business could use business process automation if you know where to look. Some simple tasks that can be automated if you aren’t doing so already include:
.data entry
.creating purchase orders
.marketing
.invoicing
.bookings
Small tasks such as these may seem like they aren’t taking up too much time but once you add them up they become a much larger issue to deal with. Especially if you want to grow and scale your business. This is where learning automation online can really help. It will allow you to identify areas of your business that can be streamlined so you can focus on more important tasks.
Imagine not having to answer the phone for every customer booking. Instead you can use an online booking platform that allows your customers to book with ease while neatly arranging your schedule for the week. You might also have to send them an invoice at the end of the meeting or appointment. This can also be arranged through automated business processes where you setup your invoice template, attach your fee and click a button to email it to that particular customer. Doesn’t that sound easier than writing out the whole invoice from scratch? All you have to do is setup the process and it becomes much simpler from there!
How can small business automation be achieved?
Small business automation can be achieved in the same way large corporations implement automated business tasks. It happens on a smaller scale but basically involves a step by step process that allows you to identify, implement and perform tasks through software that is designed for that specific duty.
Step 1: Find opportunities to automate a task
Take a look at all the business processes you go through on a daily basis, it doesn’t matter how small the task. This could be emailing customers to say thank you, taking calls for bookings, entering a customer’s data, posting to your business’s social media profile, etc. Write down EVERYTHING!
Once you have it all written down proceed to highlight the tasks that are simple enough that you personally don’t need to take care of them. These are the tasks you will want to use automated business solutions on.
Step 2: Write down the process
Each task has a process that you follow to get it completed right? Writing them out will enable you to see in more detail if and how you can automate a task while identifying key elements to look for in the software that you will need.
Step 3: Replace yourself with business software
Now it’s time to shop around for software! The type of task will determine what business automation software you will need to complete the task so you don’t have to. For example if you need to create bookings for customers you will use booking software. On the other hand if you need to create automatic invoices you will need invoicing software, etc.
Pricing and features vary for a lot of software when it comes to automating your business so it pays to do your research. One program may be cheaper but can be missing a key element you need to make the task easier or hands free. This is when you need to weigh up the pros of having that particular feature and whether it is worth the price.
Step 4: Troubleshoot Your Automated Process
There are always growing pains in business when it comes to implementing something new. That’s why it is important to test and troubleshoot your automated process before you fully integrate it into your business. Make sure you test the software from both ends of the experience (e.g for when you use it and when the customer uses it) this will ensure that everything is running smoothly and that any hiccups will be promptly dealt with.
Step 5: Repeat, repeat, repeat!
The last step is easy! Just repeat all the previous steps for existing and even new tasks that need to be implemented in your business as you scale and grow. This will ensure that you aren’t overloaded and you have more time to expand your enterprise and make more profits.
Benefits of automating your business
Business automation processes are fast becoming a standard part of many modern businesses today and with this shift come many benefits for your business, your employees and yourself as an entrepreneur as well. Some of the positive changes businesses have seen through process automation include:
Better time management
Time is money as they say and the worst way to waste your time is on simple yet time consuming tasks that need to be done but don’t add to the growth of your business. You can not only spend hours on these tasks but forget about the more important ones entirely.
This is where business automation can help, especially scheduling and calendar tools which allow you to manage your time more effectively by sending you alerts when you have that important meeting or need to get a project done by a certain time. Automating a task also allows you more time to complete said projects or to prepare for meetings which, in turn, will help you increase revenue and scale your business.
Surge in productiveness
Business process automation can increase productiveness throughout your company and save yourself and your employees a lot of time. Imagine a project that needs data entered into a table. Instead of spending arduous amounts of hours entering every small piece of data what if you could transfer it to a file and have the data displayed in seconds?
Another example would be trying to answer every email that your hundreds of customers send you. What if you could respond to them on basic queries via a chatbot? This would save both yourself and your customer’s time, then if they needed an answer to a more complex problem you could be notified when they need to speak to one of your team members.
Increased business communication and cooperation
There is nothing more frustrating than playing Chinese whispers in the workplace where Jerry doesn’t know what Bridget is doing and you don’t know what stage your project is at. Automating your business processes and tasks can help improve communication and cooperation in the workplace so that everyone is on the same page.
This works really well for stay at home workers, contractors and virtual assistants as well when communication is more important as most of the work is done remotely. In this instance, using project automation software will allow your employees to check off their tasks so you can see how the project is progressing while allowing other workers to see when they need to start the next step. It’s both easier and more efficient for everyone!
Improved service quality
When you automate your business you open doors for improvement within your company and the services you offer. This can come in the form of:
.better quality services provided to the customers
.faster turnover times
.more valuable customer experiences
These improvements can skyrocket your business to new heights with increased customer retention, new customer leads and better profit margins adding towards your potential for scalability and growth.
Expanding the bottom line
Process automation is a great way to reduce one of the biggest problems businesses have for their bottom lines. COSTS! Handling processes yourself or allowing your employees to handle them takes up time and for every dollar you spend on those tasks that could be automated you are losing money.
Small business automation allows you to reduce the money and time spent on menial tasks and allows you to focus on your customers, your meetings, your projects; all the things that actually earn you money. This enables you to expand your bottom line and scale faster than if you kept doing the smaller tasks over and over yourself.
Less inaccuracies
Accuracy is a huge time saver and adds quality to your products or services because there are less mistakes or flaws to them. Therefore business process automation, which provides better accuracy, increases the quality of your services and saves you time.
There are still processes that need the human element to succeed but automating a task, especially if it involves finances or data can drastically reduce the risk of errors and the need for problem solving if something goes wrong.
Easier on-boarding and process handling
Process automation is excellent for businesses with numerous staff or those looking to hire new employees and expand their company. This is because automating your business tasks allows your staff to easily handle the everyday jobs that need to be done with efficiency.
New employees benefit from business automation as well because it becomes easier to standardise business practices. This helps new hires to learn faster and get into a routine so they can maximise their time and energy within your company.
Increased business analysis
When automated business solutions are implemented within your company there are increased opportunities for analysis of the data and resources that are used to complete various tasks. This is great because it allows you to further streamline your processes for more efficiency, find more innovative ways to perform tasks and improve your savings.
It also allows you to track the advancement of multiple projects at once while keeping an eye on your employee’s progress and work ethic. This enables you, as an entrepreneur, to make adjustments as needed so your team as a whole can reach your goals quickly and effectively.
Don’t exclude the human element!
While automated business solutions are effective for various reasons it should still be used in conjunction with the human element. There are just some tasks or processes that machines can’t replace humans with. This is not necessarily a bad thing though.
When business automation is implemented it allows both entrepreneurs and employees to focus on more important and complex tasks. This, in turn, reduces wasted time and effort on processes that don’t necessarily make the business money but are needed to help it run efficiently. That is why automated business solutions are not just important for the operation of businesses today but are powerful tools that provide opportunities for success in this modern era.
