When you think about the term automation, you might automatically go to large international corporations in your mind. For example, automation is something you might associate with manufacturing. In reality, automation can be something that you use on a much smaller scale in your business to save money and improve productivity.
A specific example is the use of AP automation. AP automation can help your small business in a range of ways.
When you use software to automate AP, you can reduce human errors, improve employee productivity, and take advantage of early payment discounts. You create more efficient workflows, and those benefits can extend outside of your account department.
Along with AP, some of the best places for businesses to use automation include:
- Marketing and eCommerce automation—examples include the use of email marketing software, chatbots, and a CRM system.
- Business process automation—this refers to the automation of recurring tasks and workflows that can be automated for increased efficiency and reduced costs.
- Process automation—administrative and mechanical tasks can fall into this category.
- Chatbots—the concept of chatbots was mentioned above, but these affordable solutions can scale up your customer service capabilities significantly.
- Inventory management—when you automate inventory management, you’re going to have real-time updates, so you can reduce canceled orders and backorders.
The following are some general things to know about the possible ways automation helps small businesses.
Adapting to Demand
When you have automation as part of your business strategy, one of the big advantages is the fact that it makes you an agile business. You’re inherently scalable, and you can handle shifts in the market much more easily.
As an example, if you’re automating some of your administrative tasks, then you can make sure you’re still able to keep up if there’s a big spike in orders even without bringing new employees on board.
Cut Labor Expenses
Every small business owner is always on the lookout for ways to reduce expenses, and it’s likely that your biggest single expense is labor.
Automation helps you reduce those costs.
You can not only have a smaller and more efficient team with automation integrated into your business, but your employees can also focus on higher-level and more strategic tasks rather than the labor-intensive tasks that don’t create a lot of value.
The same is true for you as the business owner—when certain tasks are taken care of via automation, you can set your sites on things that help your business grow, rather than getting stuck in the day-to-day grind of operations.
Reducing Errors
Human errors are a big expense in terms of both time and money, but unfortunately, they can be unavoidable when you have people working on tasks like bookkeeping and invoicing. When there is human error, you have to go back and fix the problem.
When you have automated tools, you’re reducing errors, so again, resources can be put elsewhere.
Streamline Remote Operations
If you have some or all of your employees working from home, you aren’t alone. The COVID era really sped up the work-from-home trend, and it’s beneficial if it’s appropriate for your business model. You can reduce overhead expenses and operate as a lean and agile business.
Automated tools that are cloud-based are an important part of having a remote workforce.
That way, there’sthe automation of processes so that it doesn’t matter where members of your team are working—there’s still cohesion and accessibility.
Employee Satisfaction
You want happy employees who feel like they know their role in your business, and they’re appreciated.
You also want employees who feel empowered, and you don’t want to create unnecessary hurdles for them.
Automation can help in these areas.
For example, you can use automation as part of your employee training and onboarding, as well as your continual learning and development. You can also use it for tasks like vacation requests and travel reimbursement, so employees have self-serve options available to them.
Improved Customer Experience
There are so many ways you can utilize automation to improve your customer experience.
For example, when you use automation, you can standardize your order processing and fulfillment.
If you’re a small business, it’s important to analyze where you’ll most benefit from automation. You don’t need to automate everything. Go incrementally and think about those places where you would get the most initial value and put your resources there.
You can always build on your automation strategy as time goes on, but there can be very real and almost immediate effects from even small changes.
