How to Automate Your Business Processes
April 6th 2021
How to Automate Your Business Processes Owning and running a business can feel like a lot of work! Of course, this work is rewarding as your business begins to grow, but what if we told you that there are many ways to optimize your business processes to take some of the workloads off of you? Proper process automation can save you time, money, energy and allow you to start working on your business instead of just for it! Not sure where to begin with automating your business processes? No worries, keep reading for some easy tips to get you started:
Audit your processes and look for potential optimizations: Identify all of the processes you currently use in your business to help you understand where there is overlap, gaps or where you may be spending too much time/money. Example: lead generation, data entry, approvals, and reviews.
Use automation where it makes sense: Processes that are time/resource intensive or subject to human error should be automated first. Example: choose repetitive tasks, such as client data entry, and automate through the use of a form-to-database integration.
Break down your manual processes into action-based steps: Choose a process to automate, break down each step into smaller action-based steps, then assess which of those steps can be automated. Example: break down your job quote or shipping process.
Take existing manual processes and slowly add tools to improve them over time: Start with 1 manual process & find a simple tool – an app, a piece of software - that can help reduce the time/energy it takes to complete and build on that. Example: use scheduling software to automate sending follow-up emails to clients when invoices are due.
Use new projects as opportunities to integrate new automation: New projects are perfect opportunities to find inefficiencies that can be improved through automation. Example: Adding an online shop to your website? Set up a mailing list with automated emails sent to customers after they make a purchase.
By implementing these easy automation tips into your business processes, you can check things off your to-do list with ease and focus on the aspects of working on your business that you enjoy!