Small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are in a perpetual balancing act. Should you scale quickly or take your time refining operations until stability is certain? When asking this question, you may consider how productivity oversights and failures are the most significant hurdle for growth and process improvement alike. Automation for small business might be the all-encompassing strategy you need.
What Is the Merit of Automation for Small Business?
Honing in on productivity enhancements delivers advantages from every corporate angle. Committing to this goal assists the individual company’s stability while reinforcing strong local well-being. SMEs comprise 90% of the global market, and research shows making them more productive would yield between 5%-10% of the gross domestic product, depending on the economy’s size. SMEs are known for their fractional productivity compared to larger organisations, so bridging this gap would rewrite stereotypes while boosting income.
Investing in automation for small business also means stakeholders can redirect the staff’s efforts. Automation handles repetitive, unfulfilling tasks. It removes tedious responsibilities from employees who may burn out from doing them repeatedly. Delegating to automation could improve employees’ quality of life by giving them high-impact assignments. The mundane tasks become more productive and contain less human error simultaneously.
Enhanced customer service is another boon. Feedback is the lifeblood of an SME. It can make or break a business, so automating processes that increase the chances of a glowing review must be a goal. Automation directly correlates with productivity, which customers notice. A recent marketing report proved automation makes customers happier by:
- Lowering time employees spend on administrative tasks by 34%.
- Reducing lead response time by 28%.
- Bettering overall customer support and service by 35%.
Small-business automation tools free employees’ time so they can devote it to more fruitful endeavours, like connecting with clients and shoppers. This improves relationships and reputation — all because the technologies make them more productive.
What Small-Business Automation Tools Should You Use?
Artificial intelligence (AI) is the most apparent productivity-boosting trend, even for small-business automation tools. AI may seem exclusive to tech giants, but it is an accessible resource, depending on its implementation. Use generative AI to develop content ideas or sales strategies. It might give you ideas you never thought of before. You can also ask it for sales forecast predictions based on your data, allowing you to prepare for the future.
Many SMEs access AI and related tools by installing software-based solutions. These include the following:
- Workflow managers
- Bookkeeping programmes
- Clock-in systems,
- Customer relationship tools
These can have any number of automation functionalities making employees more productive, such as automated data backups, chatbot services, lead follow-up reminders and scheduling. The time-consuming yet necessary activities provide the foundation for an SME to run on autopilot so owners and stakeholders have the freedom to scale and train.
Another crucial automation programme to implement as a time-saver is a social media management hub. While you may have staff devoted to social media marketing, you can recover countless hours of manual customer segmentation research and competitive analysis by automating it all. Staff can even automate scheduling posts with generative suggestions for the best hashtags, ad investment amount and posting time to suit the followers.
You may also experiment with cobots. These are the perfect workforce complement, particularly in industries with labour shortages. A small construction contractor leveraging a cobot could shorten a 12-hour sanding project to 3.5 hours. Because so many employees worldwide will interact with robotic co-workers in the near future, you may as well upskill and acclimate them now to get ahead of the curve.
How Should You Think About Implementation?
The smartest automation implementation plans use analytical hierarchical thinking to guide them. The goal is process optimisation — not replacing workers with automation technologies. SMEs will make more mindful decisions on how automation best serves them by following these steps:
- Choose a process to simplify.
- Brainstorm unpowered mechanical solutions to better the process.
- Implement this option if it is the best answer.
- Use programmed or robotic options if necessary.
The thought process keeps SMEs employee-focused. Sometimes, the person-first approach is the right way until you discover places where technology will yield value. It also stops you from going over budget or incorporating unnecessary tools in your tech stack for digital transformation’s sake. SMEs only gain the financial benefits of automation productivity if they do not waste it on unnecessary assets.
It is critical to keep this mindset at the forefront of rollout because not all productivity or automation equipment will work for your SME. You can determine what is most important by identifying the SME’s pain points. Do they include expensive, labour-intensive accounting or complex supply chain management? Leading questions are the springboard for implementing the most high-value automation tools first.
Expert implementation avoids pitfalls associated with digital transformation by having clarity on your goals. Before onboarding automation tools for productivity, discover what metrics you will track to review progress. This can include reductions in overtime wages, upward sales growth rates or time savings on everyday tasks. The key is to make them realistic so employees are not overwhelmed with learning digital tools alongside new workflow expectations.
Small-Business Automation Tools, Tips and Tricks
SME automation demands equipment and training, but it also requires the appropriate mindset if you want to see productivity gains. While tools, robots and software can make operational hours more valuable when an SME’s time is already limited, automation must be supplemented with other productivity strategies. Relying on it completely will result in less-than-ideal key performance indicators, so balance implementation with your intuition to discover what is best for the business.
