Small and Medium Businesses are well-known bodies that operate on the lean methodology. They are dedicated to doing more with comparatively fewer resources. Also, manual processes are often more preferred in small businesses as the expected return on their investment in advanced technologies is very low. At the same time, if it is the time of sales, the decision makes in the business rarely see the need to change what is absolutely fine for the business.

At the same time, small business owners also understand that maintaining the status quo with the help of manual processes means that the growth will be out of reach for them. Another point is, entering all the sales details in an Excel sheet is not a viable option as it is not scalable. Similarly, having an account’s professional who will review and make payment for each invoice takes up a lot of valuable time and can also lead to several errors. For many small and medium-sized businesses, there comes a situation where the cost of manually carrying out the task is more than the investment required to automate them.

Here are five opportunities that are helpful in the automation process of small and medium businesses.

Accounts Payable

The manual accounts payable system involves a person who will review all the invoices, which are generally on paper. He then compares these invoices with the purchase orders and verifies that the invoices are legitimate, and finally makes arrangements for the payments. When the invoices are few each month, manually handling all these tasks is not a complex job. However, if the number of invoices starts to increase, it requires more time and makes the process more complicated. At the same time, there can be more risks, and the company might even miss some deadlines. Therefore, automating this task can be a good growth opportunity for a small business that is on its growth path.

Managing Documents

Every organization follows a workflow that requires the different employees to develop, review, edit, approve, and store documents. These documents can be of different types, such as contracts, leave requests, and expense forms. Document management in a small business might not be that hectic. However, as the business grows with time, this process might become time-consuming, error some, and costly. Therefore, a growing business needs to have an automated system to manage documentation tasks.

Logistics and Warehouse Management

Warehouse and logistics management can become complicated as the business grows. Automating this process optimizes business operations and can increase the company’s ability to compete in the market at the same time, involving a lowered overall cost for the business. The best way in this process is the use of robots which can save a lot of productive time at the same time ensure work health safety at the warehouse. Robotic automation can streamline the movement of goods and increase overall efficiency.

Marketing

Small business marketing teams can be augmented with the help of automation, which can make them highly competitive in the market. As it is well understood that small businesses cannot afford a large specialized and integrated team of marketers to gain new business and grow. This can be achieved only if the small business owners have an automated marketing solution that can deliver considerable and significant benefits to the business. Automated marketing can make a company more productive and responsive as compared to a non-automated system.

Human Resource Management

Managing roasters and different skill sets, as well as the employee conditions for each and every shift, is only a nightmare that only grows with the business expansion. With the help of automation, the rostering managers get a lot of additional and proactive time. They can better manage the under or the overstaffing of the shifts. This also accounts for the people’s preferences and managing the time off requests.

Automation is no longer for the giants. Even small and medium-sized companies can invest in technology to bring about automation. If automation fulfils the unique needs and opportunities of small businesses, it can add significant benefits to the businesses. The benefits can be increased speed and productivity, fewer errors, and minimized risk of fraud. At the same time, the small and medium businesses experience improved compliance and governance, better budget management, and improved team morale. Small and medium businesses must identify the areas in which automation can be carried out so that it adds to the overall success of the business.