Business Process Automation Addresses Your Small Business Challenges

November 16th 2021 11:00:00 AM

Have you heard the expression “business process automation” (BPA) and thought it only applied to medium-sized businesses and large corporations? That is definitely not the case. BPA is a strategy that can be incorporated by small businesses to make them more efficient. If you are finding you are spending more time working “in” your business doing busy work than “on” the business building it, then you can benefit from BPA.

As a small business owner, you have seen your company develop from an idea to a business that is operating and making a profit. You have moved forward from the time when everything was done personally (since there was no budget to hire anyone to help) to being able to hire employees to take on key roles.

Why You Should Consider Business Process Automation

Small businesses automate processes for various daily activities. When activities that require the same type of paperwork can be automated, efficiency gets a boost, and your carbon footprint becomes smaller. Here are some reasons to consider automating your business processes:

1. Increased Employee Engagement

When employees are engaged, they are happy and satisfied with their jobs. They are enthusiastic about being at work and the contribution they are making to help the company reach its goals.

It is difficult for team members to be engaged in their work if they are being asked to complete tedious tasks regularly. Business applications can eliminate them, allowing workers to focus on more enjoyable parts of their jobs. Employee satisfaction rates will likely improve. Customer satisfaction and your bottom line could follow suit.

2. Reduced Risk of Manual Errors

One of the most serious errors that can be made in a company is the manual type. If it is the type of error that has to do with finances, it can have a devastating effect on your business. A human error in data entry has the potential to significantly distort your analysis and could lead to reports and forecasts.

When these processes are automated, the requirement for manual data entry is minimized (if not completely eliminated). The likelihood of manual errors in data entry is greatly reduced.

3. Greater Efficiency

Modern technology and software applications make it easier to increase efficiency in your organization when you introduce automation. Tasks which need to be completed regularly can be organized and sent to the person who needs to access them electronically. Nothing gets “stuck” on someone’s desk when the system tracks whether a task was completed and the date it happened.

4. Reduced Costs

Automating tasks means there is much less need for human intervention to get things done. It also you can look forward to lower overhead costs and less waste.

Examples of Ways BPA Can Change Your Small Business

Incorporating business process automation into your small business can help you take it to the next level. It also has the advantage of making your small venture look like a much bigger one when you are looking to attract clients. The following are some examples of ways your business can benefit from BPA: 

Customer Support

You’ll want to track all customer questions and requests for help. The customer can receive an e-mail or a text message acknowledging receipt of their communication. The automatic system assigns the customer’s message a reference number. It indicates the customer will receive a response within a set time. Your customer service team (however large or small) can respond to the queries in the order they were received.

Client Management

BPA software will help you keep your client accounts up to date. Your team members will be able to access any files needed with a few keystrokes. The client page can indicate the most helpful information:

• The last time someone from the company contacted the customer
• The date and content of the previous order
• Any notes about customer preferences

With this information, your sales and customer service employees are much better able to do their work. 

Administrative Tasks

Business process automation can mean spending less time performing administrative tasks. For example, if all your onboarding documents for new employees were online, a new hire could sit down at a computer terminal or even use a laptop to complete all their paperwork on their first day of work. They could press “Enter” and forward it to your office administrator. The new employee can do the same with their direct deposit information for your payroll clerk.

When employees want to request their annual vacation, it is much easier to do so electronically. Supervisors can send approvals by e-mail. Your company will be saving trees and will have electronic records of all requests.  

Project Management

BPA software can help you stay on top of tasks and projects. It helps everyone working on a project stay up-to-date with deadlines and developments as the project unfolds.

Scanco Operations Management for Sage 100 Modules Customize Your Software Solution

Operations Management for Sage 100 gives you the flexibility to build a software solution that will provide you with the business process automation you crave without any extra features you don’t need. You can focus on the aspects of your business that are priorities now and add more software modules as your business grows and your needs change.

Choose from popular modules such as Job Estimating/Quoting, Data Collector, Sales Orders/Work Tickets, Time Tracker, Purchase Agent, Enhanced Scheduling, and Field Service & Dispatch. If you aren’t sure which modules are the best fit for your small business, click here to use Scanco’s free online module match tool. It only takes a few minutes to find out!