Posted by Whoever said being an entrepreneur would give you lots of free time lied. Sometimes, it feels like the complete opposite. Besides the long work hours, you also have to worry about dwindling sales and increasing expenses. Thankfully, if you can figure out how to automate your small business, you’ll not only free up a lot of time but also save on costs and boost your sales.
In this post, you’ll learn the 4 practical steps to take if you want to reap the benefits of small business automation. We’ll go into the details of each step, so you know what tasks to automate, how much to spend, and the results to expect soon after successful automation.
By the end of this article, you’ll be ready to join the 66% of business organizations that have either automated at least one process or are planning to do so soon.
Let’s dive in, shall we?
Step 1: Set Your Goals
Your entire automation strategy will depend on what you want to get out of it. Entrepreneurs usually want at least one of the following perks in the near future:
- More sales
- Better productivity
- To save cost
More Sales
Unless you have an unending source of funding for your company, making as many sales as you can in the shortest possible period is key to staying afloat. So, if you believe your sales numbers could be better, now may be the right time to automate a process or two.
About 76% of businesses enjoy a positive ROI a year after investing in marketing automation, and 44% do so within six months. This potential benefit comes from the immense scalability of most business automation software.
Better Productivity
You don’t have to automate every process in your organization for it to be automated. Your focus should be on those tasks that take time and yield little overall results, especially repetitive tasks. Your time and that of your employees could be better spent on something more productive.
If you have one or more of such jobs in your organization, it will help if you automated them. Already, 54% of business executives have noticed that the introduction of AI technology solutions has boosted productivity in their organizations.
Save Cost
Entrepreneurs who run lean startups know the effect of saving unnecessary costs. And according to Forbes, business automation leads to 40% to 75% worth of cost savings in a short period.
So, if all you want to do is cut down on company expenses and free up more money for funding other projects, small business automation will help.
Step 2: Select the Tasks to Automate
Whatever your desire for your business, there are automatable tasks that will help you reach your goals. Below are some ideas to help you find them.
Automatable Tasks That Will Boost Sales
These are tasks that involve the generation and nurturing of leads for your business. They also include processes that have to do with customer management and upselling your products or services. Here are 14 of them:
- Responding instantly to emails from prospective customers
- Creating and sending personalized bulk emails
- Creating and implementing frameworks for sales funnel
- Lead ranking or scoring
- Welcoming new clients
- Following up on old leads and customers
- Reminding customers about abandoned shopping carts (for eCommerce)
- Reminding clients about appointments
- Creating and analyzing surveys
- Instant customer support
- Customer birthday emails
- Social media and website tracking
- Registering attendees for events and seminars
- Sales transactions outside work hours
Examples of automation software that can perform most of the above tasks are ActiveCampaign, HubSpot, Keap, and Constant Contact.
Automatable Tasks That Will Improve Productivity
While nearly every process you automate will help improve workplace productivity, the following will probably have the most impact.
- Managing projects and teams remotely
- Sending out reminders to staff
- Document sharing based on company hierarchy
- Conducting preliminary interviews for job applicants
- Increasing social media followers
- Tracking to-do lists
- Inventory management
- Generating sales reports
- Tracking employee work hours
- Proofreading and editing documents, emails, and website content
Examples of software that can automate some of the above activities are Zapier, Hootsuite, Buffer, and Asana.
Automatable Tasks That Will Save Costs
Although, small business automation already helps to save costs by minimizing the adverse effects of human error. However, you can also trim your expenses by automating the following tasks.
- Preventing accounting data duplication
- Paperless invoicing
- Bulk data entry
- Accurate big data collection and analysis
- Responding to customer inquiries 24/7 without paying a customer support agent
Examples of software that perform the above tasks automatically are Quickbooks, Zoho Invoice, and Landbot.
Step 3: Choose a Software
One of the best features of business automation software is that they usually perform more than one task. Hence, when choosing software, you want to get one that can efficiently accomplish as many processes as possible. You also want to consider cost, quality, and complexity.
To help you make a better decision, here are the 7 most important factors to consider before choosing a business automation software:
Cost
The cost of procuring a SaaS product is arguably the most important factor to consider. Granted, to get the best, you need to be ready to pay for it. However, you shouldn’t pay for tools that offer way more than you need at the moment. Most software service providers offer a range of plans. So, take your time to choose the most appropriate for your business.
Factors that affect software pricing include:
- Number of users
- Number of features
- Complexity of features
- Number of contacts
- Number of leads
Be careful with services that seem cheap at first, but come with a boatload of hidden charges. A good software company will provide details of all the features that come with your plan. It should also show you what additional features you can get and their prices.
Scalability
Your company will grow over the years. Hence, you want an automation software that only requires a simple package upgrade to match a higher volume of tasks. If you would have to buy new hardware or upgrade existing ones to scale the software’s functionality, it may not be the right choice. You’re better off with a service that doesn’t inhibit your ability to scale quickly.
Quality of Features
Many business owners and managers fall victim to software services that advertise dozens of features for a low price. These kinds of products are not always the best options because they may not execute each task as well as you would like. Hence, the quality of the features of automation software matters.
For example, not every marketing automation tool would help with efficient customer relationship management (CRM). You may need to get different software to handle each activity if you want to maximize results.
Hardware and OS Compatibility
Business automation software are powerful tools, and although they can work well with most of the devices still in circulation, you still have to consider hardware compatibility. If you have a lot of really old computers in your workplace, you may encounter trouble finding software that would run smoothly.
You also need to consider your current operating systems. This is why we highly recommend upgrading your OS to at least a Windows 10 (for Windows PCs) or Mac OS X 10.11 (For Mac computers). Many software will work fine with Windows 7 or Mac OS X 10.6 and above, but few will be compatible with lower versions.
Scope of Integration
For this factor, you probably don’t have much to worry about because most automation software developers allow for third-party integrations with a variety of networks. Even if your prospective tool falls short in this aspect, you can always use automation apps like Zapier for your integration.
However, to save cost, you may want to use a software that can integrate seamlessly with some of the apps you already have, such as Gmail, Slack, Trello, etc.
Security
Data security is important for any business, no matter how small. Since you will most likely need cloud services, you should only go for trustworthy providers. To know if a SaaS company takes your data security seriously, find out their willingness to share security compliance certifications with the public. They should also provide details of data encryption and firewalls.
Ease of Use
The easier a software is to use, the fastest you can get your team to leverage it and the sooner you can start to see results. Its user interface should be easy on the eyes and not cramped with icons.
It should have essential tools on the main dashboard. Also, finding documents, tools, and saved projects should be easy and efficient.
Software usability is vital, and you can find these metrics out by reading accurate reviews about the product you’re considering.
As for learning to use the app, depending on complexity, you may need to dedicate some time to training team members who will use the software. If you’re looking to automate a bunch of complex processes, look out for software that include corporate training in their plans.
Customer Support
Ease of use may be irrelevant without functional customer support. This is because a time comes when cloud services develop hiccups, and you need technical experts. Also, you may want to ask questions about customized packages or additional features. Consider the following before committing to a service:
- What is their response time?
- What communication media does the support team use? (Email, telephone, live chat, etc.)
- Do their work hours match yours?
- How helpful is their customer support?
All this information is available in software reviews that incorporate honest customer feedback alongside company claims in their research.
Step 4: Incorporate the Software
The sooner you get the appropriate team members to implement new automation software, the better your chances of maximizing results quickly.
Here’re 5 tips to help with the transition:
1. Explain the Need
The first question that goes through your subordinates’ minds when you tell them about new changes is “why?” Hence, it would help if you told them the benefits of the new tool almost immediately.
Don’t talk about the benefits to the business only, but also discuss how it directly improves their work life. That way, they’ll be more inclined to use the software.
2. Train the Fast Learners First
Every company has staff members that are more adaptable, tech-savvy, and innovative than others. This set of people should be your primary target during the first stages of software adoption. They learn faster than the others; hence, they could help other staff members with the transition.
3. Plan Deadlines
You want your team members to incorporate the new software at their own pace, but you also have a business to run and can’t wait around for too long. Set reasonable deadlines for performing certain tasks with the new tool.
You could start with the easiest tasks and scale them up from there. For example, setting up a software for data entry automation is a lot easier than setting it to automatically generate detailed sales and inventory reports.
4. Use Resources
Not every software needs additional training resources, but check the service provider’s site for them if yours does.
You should also follow tech blogs and YouTube channels that provide tips on how to get the best out of the software.
5. Track Progress
This tip is especially vital at the early stages of adoption. You want to know how well the software is doing by tracking its impact on your business. If, after the first few weeks or months, you notice favorable changes in sales, conversions, time management, or expenses, then you know you made the right choice.
Tracking progress is a lot more helpful when you’re on a free trial. By monitoring how the software improves your business, you know whether to upgrade to a premium plan or cancel your subscription before the end of the trial period.
Bottom Line
Setting your goals, selecting the tasks to automate, and choosing the right software shouldn’t take too much of your time if you have all the information you need in one spot.
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