5 Simple Ways to Automate Your Small Business Processes

Posted on December 15, 2020

Topics: IT Infrastructure, Operating Cost Reduction

5 Simple Ways to Automate Your Small Business Processes

Traditionally, the act of automating processes was largely reserved for large organizations and enterprise businesses. Automation was seen, by the vast majority of other smaller businesses, to be too complicated or expensive.

This has changed dramatically in recent years. Small businesses represent 97.9 percent of the entire Canadian economy, according to official Government Of Canada statistics, and software developers are now paying attention to them.

Small and medium-sized firms now have the opportunity to automate key business processes. Automation technologies have become more feasible and accessible for companies with smaller IT and technology budgets.

With that in mind, in this blog OT Group is going to dive into what automation actually means, how it can benefit your small and medium-sized business in Ontario and what key business processes you could automate.

What is the automation of small business processes?

Business process automation (BPA) is the act of using technologies to automate recurring and manual tasks. By automating these tasks, your company can move valuable time and resources away from repetitive tasks such as document retention, regulatory compliance and other manual processes - which all require standalone technologies and time-consuming duties.

The automation of these tasks will streamline your internal processes and allow you to focus on profits instead of operational challenges.

The most important thing to remember is that automated technologies are there to enhance your employees, not replace them. Automating tasks will improve how your employees work, allowing them to access new efficiencies, minimize errors, be more productive and free up time for them to produce higher-quality work.

What are the benefits of automation?

Small and medium-sized businesses now have more opportunities to strategically automate important areas of their operations. By using these technologies, you can grow your business. By lowering costs, optimizing processes, minimizing human errors and improving productivity, you’ll be able to improve your bottom line and drive profit growth.

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Here are just a few of the key ways that automation technologies will benefit your small or medium-sized business:

  • Automate repetitive tasks
  • Optimize your internal processes
  • Reduce human error
  • Cost savings
  • Improved marketing initiatives
  • Enhance the roles of your employee
  • Improve collaboration
  • Increase employee satisfaction
  • Deliver a super customer experience (CX)
  • And much more! 

How can I automate my small business’s processes?

There are a wide range of operational processes that you can automate, but we’ve listed our top five simplest ways to implement automation into your processes so you can get the ball rolling. 

#1 - Automate invoicing requirements

Approving, managing and monitoring invoice payments is a cumbersome and time-consuming process. You can ensure this process runs seamlessly, on time and have more control over business costs by automating your invoicing requirements. This includes everything from costs associated with fixed assets, expenses, full time employees, billed tasks and much more.

#2 - Automate your marketing initiatives

Marketing is a broad category and it takes time to create assets, manage your program and analyze performance. Marketing automation tools can make this process easier and give you greater control over your program. Through technology you can automate anything from lead generation, social media posts and email marketing. 

#3 - Automate your internal operations

Automating your business operations is a fantastic way to boost the efficiency of your entire organization. Automating your workflow will help you to seamlessly delegate tasks, manage projects, streamline communications and much more. This helps your entire team to work more efficiently and effectively. 

#4 - Automate your sales process

Want to focus on profits? Then you need to enhance your sales team to make more sales. Automating your sales processes is a great way to let your sales team know where a customer is in the sales funnel. Automation tools can tell your sales team at the exact moment a prospect has reached the buying point, helping your small to medium-sized business increase profits. 

#5 - Automate your quality assurance

Most companies have some form of quality assurance (QA) step in place, ensuring complete satisfaction for their customers. The problem is, QA can be subjective and human errors can easily occur during the process, resulting in inconsistent end products. By automating this process you can feel confident that your own quality measurements standards are being met for your products or services.

To best understand what automation technologies your business needs, you should start by evaluating your internal processes. This will give you an idea of the areas in which you use the most time and resources to complete, and where you’ll gain the most efficiencies and money savings. 

[ David Ventura - VP Services ]


Want to learn more about automating your business processes? Contact OT Group today. Our team of technology experts would love to answer any questions that you may have, and design an automation strategy that helps your business grow.

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