The Cost of Sticking to Paper: How Automation Can Help Your Business Compete

Small and mid-size businesses often struggle to keep up with the newest trends in automation. The traditional way of keeping books, filing inventory, taking orders, and even writing everything down on paper is swiftly failing.

In many ways, using manual processes makes it difficult for your business to grow and compete within your industry. As your competitors adopt new technology, and your customers become more demanding, failing to keep up will eventually have a detrimental impact on your business.

The best way to understand this is by looking at all of the opportunities and roads that automation could open up for you.

    Account Management

    Account management should be the first thing every business automates. From invoicing to general accounting, automating your accounting books, revenues, profits, and costs can help you make more informed financial decisions. If you are working with an inventory or in manufacturing, this can be essential for unlocking growth opportunities with cataloged data.

    Account data gives you a clearer picture of where your business is losing money. It can also inform your future decisions and changes you implement. 

    By contrast, manually inputting and updating all of this information across multiple books and files is tedious and error-prone. It is also time-consuming for your staff to find the right records and read through the information, making your data less likely to be used.

    Cloud Storage

    Cloud computing is a network of smartphones and online devices that upload information and data to a database with a business icon.

    With cloud storage, you can ensure that all of your information is available wherever and whenever you need it. This can be particularly important if you want to quickly check something while you are away from your computer or if your staff isn’t at the office. Especially with the increase in work-from-home conditions, having all of the information digitized and available to the different users can be key.

    These online systems can transform how you store, share and search for information. Together with automation, access or changes to the information can be controlled via workflows that mimic the way you run your office review and approval processes.

    Data Synchronization

    One of the biggest costs of manual processes comes from having employees whose designated task is to find and log information as needed. This means that oftentimes, the data will not be up-to-date until someone spends their work hours, updating your paper-based systems. Even after the system is updated, whoever wants access to it, will have to manually go get the file that they are looking for.

    Automation and the use of digital systems completely transform this process. Without manual data entry, your data will be automatically added whenever there is a change. This is both simpler and less time-consuming for your employees, who will now have more time for important tasks – e.g. to check for issues and follow up with vendors, chase suppliers, reply customers, and etc.

    Up-to-date data can be the key to better customer service too. From tracking orders and providing timely accurate updates to customers, to handling changes in appointments etc. Understanding your business’s performance in the eyes of your customers can set you on the right track for business growth.

    Security and Back-ups

    Another key problem with manual processes is the general lack of security in the way the material is stored. Put simply, even if the books and materials are kept in a locked cupboard, there is still the chance that the wrong people might gain access to it or that the document might be misplaced or destroyed.

    With digital systems, these problems are immediately handled. Documents can be backed up easily and stored securely. You will never have to worry about losing information that could be fundamental to your business.

    While manual processes might seem easier to learn and use, in time, they actually cost you. Automating your systems can help you make more informed business decisions, lighten your teams’ workload, and protect your critical business information. These are some of the reasons why businesses that have invested in digitalization have done so well in their industries.

    Contact us today to learn more about how we can help your organization leverage the latest tools and unlock the full potential of digital transformation.

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