Why Automation Can Help Even the Smallest of Businesses

Imagine if you could run your business on autopilot. Wouldn’t that be great? All you have to do is press a button, and your business will run itself. While this might seem like something that only exists in a utopian world, we’re not so far behind in terms of business automation.

In fact, there are many digital applications that will easily streamline and automate your systems and processes. Although it will not run your business from end to end, it will significantly help you save time and money.

Small businesses can benefit from increased efficiency and productivity in multiple areas with automation. It will help automate mundane tasks such as customer service, invoicing, payroll, accounting, and other administrative activities.

5 Life-changing Benefits of Automating Your Processes

Small business owners have limited resources compared to a multi-owned corporation or an established enterprise. You can only do so much with a budget restraint. You might even think that spending money on automation applications is just an added expense.

However, don’t let this misconception fool you. Automating your processes can provide an array of benefits that can potentially grow and expand your business.

1. Reduce Random and Systematic Errors

Random errors happen because of human errors, such as a typo in data entry or incorrect filing of documents. On the other hand, systematic errors occur due to a lack of accuracy in processes and procedures.

With automation, you can mitigate these minor yet critical mistakes and keep your data organization more efficient.

2. Double Your Output and Boost Productivity

With an automated process, you can efficiently reduce the time required to complete repetitive tasks. You can use this extra time to focus on other aspects of your business, such as marketing or research and development. As a business owner, your time is valuable, so make sure you’re using it wisely.

3. Optimize Your Workforce

Leveraging business automation applications can help you maximize your workforce. This means you can have fewer employees, but the same amount or even more work gets done. Automation will also help reduce the costs associated with recruiting and training new hires for minor tasks. Additionally, automation will allow you and your employees to work remotely.

4. Scale Up Faster

Your business will grow faster as you reduce your time on menial tasks and allocate more resources to strategizing and business development. With automation, you can upgrade your platform quickly and seamlessly without any significant hiccups or complications.

Furthermore, automating repetitive tasks will allow you to save costs by reducing the need for additional staff or resources.

5. Improves Team Collaboration

Collaboration is so much easier when your process is streamlined. With automation, you can easily delegate tasks and ensure the continuation of your project. An efficient and organized workflow will help your team complete a project quickly and promptly.

What Are the Processes and Systems You Can Automate in Your Small Business?

Now that you know how business automation can help you develop your small business, here are some processes you can automate using simple tools.

Automated Email Response

As a modern entrepreneur, most of your formal transactions and conversations happen in your email. Automating your email tasks, such as responding to customer inquiries, promotional emails, and newsletters, will save you a great deal of time.

Most email service providers, such as Gmail, Yahoo, and Microsoft Outlook, have features that allow you to create automated email responses. You can utilize this to inform your team that you’re out of the office.

Perhaps you need to automate more intricate email tasks, such as personalized autoresponders, sending out marketing emails, and tracking customer feedback. In that case, you can use specialized email automation tools like Hubspot, Klaviyo, or Mailchimp.

Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs)

Automating your everyday processes, such as bookkeeping and customer service, is one of the most powerful ways you can use automation to your advantage.

Applications like Process Street, Trainual, and ProcessKit are dedicated SOP automation tools you can use to create and store standardized operational procedures for your business.

You can also leverage project management tools like Asana, ClickUp, and Trello to assign and track tasks within your team. With these tools, managing the tasks that need to be done and monitoring their progress is a breeze.

Social Media Posts or Blog Publication

Various social media platforms have a feature that allows you to schedule a social media post or ad in advance. This means you can line up your content for the entire month and let it post automatically on specific predetermined dates.

Furthermore, tools like Hootsuite, Buffer, and Sprout Social provide added features that will help you make marketing posts more efficient. With these applications, you can manage multiple social media accounts with ease.

You can also efficiently schedule to publish blog posts and look at their real-time analytics with tools like StoryChief, ContentCal, and Content Studio.

Reporting and Analytics

Depending on the nature of your business or the tasks you’re trying to automate, you can tap into reporting and analytics tools to help you keep track of your business performance.

Reporting is crucial for any business as it allows you to monitor their key performance metrics, such as conversions, customer feedback, website traffic, and more.

Platforms like Google Analytics and Semrush can help you create a quick marketing campaign report. In contrast, you can utilize Tableau, Sisense HR, or Qualtrics People Analytics to build comprehensive HR reports.

Fewer Distractions. More Wins

No matter how big or small your business is, automation can help you do more with less. It can streamline your team’s workflow and enable them to focus on their tasks without the need for additional staff or resources.

If you’re discouraged by the financial cost of subscribing to automation software, that’s okay. As an entrepreneur, being conscious about your spending is normal. However, there are a lot of process automation tools that offer affordable solutions to smaller and medium-sized businesses.

With fewer distractions in your path, you can create more opportunities to scale your business and stay ahead of the competition. Interested in automation for your business but don't know where to start? Contact Hierograpx!