As you likely already have seen, automation and the next wave of digital tools have already made their way into the business world and the modern office and skillful implementation have allowed some businesses to supercharge their growth, making great gains despite relatively small teams and goals. And while needless tools and inefficient automation are clearly things to avoid, we think that you and your business can benefit.
Here are the reasons we think you should adopt new technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain, and consider looking into increased automation to optimize your business:
Your Business Will Be Able to Do More with Less
This is the simplified answer to the question, but an answer that needs stating nonetheless. Taking stats from the field of marketing, 40 percent of companies not using marketing automation software of some kind plan to within the next 12 months. The majority of those using it plan to expand their budget for it, only proving that companies are finding it effective.
Going further into the marketing example, automation can allow your employees to start with improved targeted messaging, this will then provide more worthwhile leads, and this leads to increased sales or conversions (which in most cases it the main pillar of growth). Automation, despite all of the jargon and attention surrounding it, is simply another form of technology, and all technology is meant to be is a tool or process to improve the output per unit of input.
And automation isn’t a terribly expensive item once implemented, especially if its digitally-based. You will pay less per employee or task the more it is utilized, whether through the pricing structure of whatever you’re using, or simply getting more out of the one-time or yearly licensing fees. What you will get with proper use is a return on your investment, allowing you to allocate resources elsewhere to focus primarily on your main goal: growth.
It Will Reduce Employee Energy Waste
We aren’t talking about the electric bill here, we are instead talking about the limited energy your employees have each week to put their best foot forward and contribute creatively and with great expertise to the success of your company. Many people, likely including yourself after some reflection, will notice that they can only put forth their best work for fifteen to twenty hours. While time can be spent on administration tasks and managerial items after this, you as an owner or manager need to protect that time, and that means removing meaningless tasks.
If a task can be automated, then you should consider it meaningless work for the employee. That principle will drive your business forward like nothing else. Additionally, if you remove those administrative and otherwise automatable tasks, your employees won’t need to put as much time and energy into their workday. You can react to this how you’d like, but as a general rule it will lead to more focused, happier employees, who might not be around as often, but will be more productive when around and never sink into negative productivity.
It Frees Time Up to Allow for a Human Approach When Needed
While opponents would say automation can remove the human element from business, instead you might want to think of it as allowing you to place the limited human resources you have exactly where they are needed, and letting machines take care of the tasks that are fundamentally inhuman.
Why would the human element be necessary for data entry or scraping for potential sales leads? That time and effort from your talented employees could instead be spent creatively analyzing that information and developing solutions that could grow your business, provide your brand with a better reputation, and do the work that is necessary to take your company to the next level. Automation certainly reduces the need for human labor, but what you decide to do with that saved resource is up to you.
It Can Reduce Human Error
The main advantage of a machine or computer over a human is that, barring mechanical failure or poor programming, it will be able to repeat and perform tasks with little margin for error. Human error is one of the major causes of wastes in businesses. For example, mail mishandled by human employees has affected 76 percent of British businesses negatively, often costing a great deal in the process, while an automated system could have done the same job with fewer issues.
Think of the other aspects of your business and what mundane tasks might potentially be mishandled (and have grave consequences should that occur). By eliminating that risk through automation, you will be better able to supercharge your growth, if only through the removal of emergency events and missed opportunities.
How BPM Is Related and Can Help
BPM, as Comidor provides, is the type of automation that makes everything in your business just a bit easier, especially the management tasks that you and your managers would normally have to handle.
With the perfect tools, you’ll be able to create customs plans and programs to bring automation to your company in particular, in exactly the way it will be needed. This will provide the optimal management solution when it comes to things such as logistics, the minute of project management, data management, and more. Answering the big questions correctly and getting the details right on new ideas is where the most growth happens.
Conclusion
Business automation is a large concept and in even a few years we will find additional uses for it in the workplace and ways it can spur growth. Notably, it will vary greatly in its applications from industry to industry. What we hope you take away from this article is a sense that there is a way you can make it work for you, and that there are tools such as Comidor that can help your business grow for years to come.
Author bio: Kevin is the founder and CEO of two successful businesses. Most recently he and his team launched broadbandsearch.net, a home services search engine. Having run many digital businesses, he knows the benefits and cost savings involved with automation.
