Running a small business is exhausting.
Between chasing invoices, answering emails, updating spreadsheets and tracking compliance paperwork… who has time to grow your business?
Sound familiar? You’re not alone.
Here’s the good news:
Automation tools have revolutionized life for entrepreneurs and small business owners. The right stack will allow you to:
- Cut hours off your weekly admin
- Reduce human error
- Focus on the work that actually makes money
Let’s dive in!
Here’s What’s Inside:
- Why Small Businesses Are Turning To Automation
- The Best Automation Categories To Look At
- How To Pick The Right Tools For Your Business
- Common Mistakes To Avoid
Why Small Businesses Are Turning to Automation
Small business owners are drowning in busywork.
New studies show that the average owner spends 40% of their time on automatable administrative work. Nearly half your day filling your week with redundant tasks a computer could do.
And it gets worse…
Most owners are still handling this manually. Times are shifting quickly though. Now 82% of small business employers use some form of automation software. (Yep, seriously.) That’s a big increase from even a few years ago.
Why the shift?
- Tools are cheaper than ever
- Setup takes minutes (not weeks)
- No coding knowledge required
- ROI is fast and measurable
Automating the mundane tasks. Did you know mundane tasks like processing business mail, staying on top of state filings, and even running your own registered agent service can be automated. Companies like iPostal1 will provide you with a virtual business address that not only gets your mail and forwards important documents but also allows you to conduct the type of document workflow a registered agent service would normally handle. If you operate out of your home or if you are always on the go, this service can save you a huge headache.
Now let’s look at the automation categories making the biggest impact…
The Best Automation Categories to Look At
Not all automation is created equal.
Certain tools will win you big in days. Others will just gather dust and eat up your budget. Let’s look at tool categories that have the biggest impact for SMBs these days.
Marketing Automation
This is where most small businesses start.
Marketing automation takes care of all those tedious tasks like email, social posts, lead follow-up etc. Best of all? It does this automatically, 24 hours a day, once it is configured.
Common tasks you can automate:
- Welcome email sequences for new subscribers
- Abandoned cart reminders
- Birthday and anniversary offers
- Social media posting
- Lead scoring and tagging
ActiveCampaign, Mailchimp and HubSpot all excel at this. Choose one and get started today.
Customer Support Automation
Customer service can eat up a huge chunk of your day.
When you automate FAQs, order tracking, appointment booking… You allow your agents to focus on the complex issues that require human intervention.
Chatbots have evolved quite a bit as well. Recent versions are capable of answering most questions without human intervention. That takes some serious load off of your team. Companies implementing support automation are experiencing quicker response times and higher customer satisfaction.
Accounting and Finance Automation
Nobody likes bookkeeping.
The easy part is you no longer have to go fishing for this information yourself. QuickBooks, Xero, FreshBooks and others will:
- Send invoices on a schedule
- Chase overdue payments
- Sync bank transactions automatically
- Generate tax-ready reports
That means hours of savings every month and fewer errors that cost you during tax season. Plus, you have visibility into your cash flow as it happens. No more waiting till month-end to see where you stand.
Workflow and Task Automation
This is a favourite category for many owners.
Zapier and Make allow you to connect all of your other apps. Whenever something happens in one app, it automatically makes something else happen in another app. Here’s an example:
- New form submission comes in
- Contact added to your CRM
- Welcome email sent automatically
- Sales team notified on Slack
All of that happens without anyone lifting a finger.
How to Pick the Right Tools for Your Business
There are hundreds of automation tools available. Picking incorrect ones can cost time and money. Here is an easy guide to help you choose the correct ones.
Start With Your Biggest Time Waster
Look at your week honestly. What tasks are eating the most hours?
Start there. Don’t try to automate everything right away. Choose the single task that drains the most energy from you and automate that with a tool that does what you need.
Look for Integration First
The tool you pick needs to play nicely with what you already use.
If you’re on Shopify, search for tools that work with Shopify. Google Workspace? Ensure the tool integrates with Gmail and Google Sheets. Integration isn’t just nice, it’s everything.
Test Before You Commit
Almost every automation tool offers a free trial. Use it.
Create a workflow. Run it for a week. Evaluate performance prior to investing in an annual subscription.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Automation is great, but it can backfire if you don’t learn how to use it properly. Avoid making these automation mistakes that small businesses make again and again.
Automating Broken Processes
If your process is messy… Automating it just gives you messy results faster.
Fix the process first. Then automate it.
Setting and Forgetting
Automation is not a set-and-forget deal.
Bots break. APIs get updated. Workflows change. Verify your automations once per month to ensure they are still functioning correctly.
Skipping the Human Touch
Automation is amazing for repetitive tasks… But some things still need a human.
Don’t send an automatic reply if someone emails you a complaint. Take time out of your day to reply to your largest client. Automate where necessary, but never lose the personal touch.
Trying to Do Too Much Too Fast
Once you start automating, it is tempting to automate everything.
Don’t do that though. Many small businesses jump into automating too many things at once and create a clutter of poorly integrated tools. Automate one workflow. Make sure it’s humming. Then automate the next.
Final Thoughts
Automation is no longer a nice-to-have for small businesses. It is essential.
Companies who will win in the next few years are those that will learn to utilize these tools effectively. On the bright side, it has never been easier to get started.
To quickly recap:
- Start with your biggest time waster
- Pick tools that integrate with what you already have
- Test before you commit
- Fix broken processes before automating them
- Don’t lose the human touch
Spend 10 minutes this week analyzing your business. Find one thing you can automate. You’ll be amazed at how much time you reclaim.
