Automating small business operations

Traditionally, access to advanced technologies has been a luxury only afforded larger corporations that possess the resources to heavily invest in research and development.

As software continues to evolve, overall accessibility grows as well. This means small-business owners can now take advantage of the efficiencies created by automating some of their most necessary and time-consuming administrative functions. By identifying which of your organization's daily operations can be managed automatically, your team will be able to focus more effort on serving your own customers to the best of your ability.

Improving payroll
For employees, payday is oftentimes their favorite day of the week — for managers or HR teams, this could be a dreaded day full of double and triple checking spreadsheets.

In Alight and NorthgateArinso's annual Global Payroll Complexity Index, 11% of organizations surveyed were operating on "completely manual processes." The result of these antiquated methods has led to 76% admitting to having failed to pay employees correctly or on time, at an average of four times over the past year.

Organizations that utilize outdated legacy systems to manage their payments risk damaging employee morale and potentially turning talent toward competitors. By identifying a payment automation solution that best fits the size of your company and the resources available to you, your team can spend less time in Excel and more time on core business objectives.

Scheduling
Another process that oftentimes takes managers away from focusing on their agenda is creating a weekly schedule for their teams. Forbes contributor Megan Totka recommended that small-business owners prioritize this as one of the first processes for automation, as there are several free or budget-friendly apps available to handle the task.

These user-friendly tools also allow business owners to easily edit the schedules that the apps produce, so they are able to adjust as needed and apply their personal knowledge of team dynamics to create the best environment for staff and customers each day.

By automating time-consuming but necessary activities such as creating weekly schedules, managers can instead focus on improving their business itself.

Social media
Oftentimes, small teams feel as though they simply do not have the resources or time to dedicate to a consistent social media strategy, leading to infrequent or inconsistent content. A study by Socialbakers revealed that engagement rates drop significantly when businesses post more than twice a day or only once a week, making even limited efforts across social channels virtually useless.

Automated services will easily connect with your organization's social media accounts, so you can schedule content to be pushed out to your followers on a pre-determined schedule. This allows teams to build their content libraries gradually, rather than having to spend hours creating their posts around a specified deadline.

Aligning tech with your objectives
No matter which process you decide to automate, the impact of this action should help your organization excel in pursuing its long-term objectives. Need additional assistance with corporate matters and various other types of legal concerns? Call the Law Offices of Donald W. Hudspeth, P.C. at 866-696-2033 or contact the firm online to make an appointment.

Categorised in: Starting a Business in Arizona

This post was written by