Introduction
We’re constantly told that we need to innovate, but few people know where to start. Here are some ideas that may help you get started and automate to focus on your core work:
Get help to move you forward and do more work
To get help to move forward and do more work, you need an expert.
Once you have decided that outsourcing or automating is the answer to your problems, you will have a better idea of the things that you can pass over. You can then decide whether it is worth hiring someone else, or if it would be cheaper and easier just to automate them. If it’s not worth hiring someone else because the task doesn’t require any special skills, then automating may be the best option for you.
Start by documenting your process(es)
The first step to automating or outsourcing anything is to document your process. This may sound daunting, but it’s actually incredibly easy. There are loads of tools out there to help you create a library of your best practices and make them available at any time. Before you know it, you’ll have documented processes for everything from sending the weekly newsletter to updating social media profiles to automating payment information in QuickBooks (for those who are familiar with this accounting software).
Process documentation isn’t just for IT departments—it can be used by anyone who wants their work done more efficiently and effectively!
Outsource or delegate things outside your area of expertise
Outsourcing or delegating is the ultimate tool for getting things done. You can’t do everything yourself, and even if you could, it would cost you more than it’s worth. If you want to succeed in any business (or life), you need to focus on doing what your company does best and outsource or delegate anything outside of that core area.
There are many ways to outsource: hiring employees or contractors to help with tasks that don’t directly affect your core job; finding an expert who will complete a task better than you can; hiring a virtual assistant who will take care of small tasks so that they don’t overwhelm your day-to-day work; outsourcing high volume tasks like customer service calls or invoicing through software like HubSpot.
The best part about outsourcing is that once it’s set up correctly, it happens automatically with little effort from the person running the business.
Can it be automated, where are people actually required?
In any business, automation is a prime way to reduce costs and improve efficiency. But before you start automating your entire operation, it’s important to consider whether or not it can be done at all. In theory, anything can be automated with enough time and money; however, there are some items that just aren’t worth automating because of the cost involved in doing so (e.g., automating cold sales calls).
However, as long as you have some kind of competitive advantage over your competitors (i.e., you offer better customer service), then there will always be a place for human interaction in your business processes. For example: if you run an e-commerce store that sells beauty products online, then selling hairbrushes isn’t something where people add value—you could easily automate this process using pre-recorded videos showing how each brush works and what makes it unique from other hairbrushes on the market. You could even go so far as to have artificial intelligence generate reports about sales trends based on information from past customers who purchased similar products.
Freelancer or Outsource to a specialist company
Freelancer or Outsource to a specialist company
A freelancer can be cheaper, but it has its own limitations. If you’re not careful with your selection and do not get the right person, there could be issues with quality control. You also won’t have their full attention as they may be working on other projects at the same time, and this could affect their ability to deliver for you on time. However, if you want flexibility in terms of workloads and deadlines then this might be an option worth considering.
Specialist companies have more experience in certain areas than most individuals do so they tend to deliver better results over time because they know exactly what works best when it comes down right down. They normally, however, require a little more financial investment.
Try new technology to automate routine administrative and customer tasks
Automating routine administrative tasks like data entry, customer service and business operations can help you focus on your core work. The right technology can help you cut down on mundane tasks, freeing up more time to do the things that matter most.
Here are some tips for finding the right technology:
- Do a little research into what’s currently available in your industry, so you know what kind of tools are out there and which ones might be best suited to your needs.
- Look into solutions that have been tested by other companies in similar industries—you’ll learn from their successes and mistakes as well as save yourself time by avoiding products with poor reputations or negative reviews.
- Make sure the software integrates easily with existing systems (Spotify wouldn’t work with an old cassette player). You’ll want it to be user-friendly so that everyone at all levels of technical competency will find it easy to use when they need access to it.
Set up systems that focus on the best use of your time.
To help you focus on your core work, it’s important to set up systems that will help you achieve your goals. It’s also important to make sure you are using the right tools for the job. If you’re using a tool that wasn’t designed for what you want it to do, it might not be working as well as it could be.
You should also make sure that whatever system or tools are helping you with your work doesn’t overburden you and cause stress!
Starting is hard, but if you don’t you will never finish
Sometimes it’s hard to start, but if you don’t start, you will never finish. Starting is hard because it requires taking action. You can’t just think about something and expect things to change or get done. It takes real commitment and pushing yourself out of your comfort zone in order to take action.
But here’s the thing: After those first steps, things become easier and more doable. Once you’ve finished one thing on your list, the next thing will seem less daunting because you already know what needs to be done—and even if it doesn’t go as planned once in a while (which happens), we learn from those experiences so that when we continue working towards our goals each day they become more attainable than ever before.
“It’s too much hassle, I’ll just carry on as I am” (while every other business automates around me)
If you’re not automating your business, then you are letting every other business outperform you. Do you want to hand over your market share to someone else?
It’s easy to say “no”, but if that is what you are doing, then be ready for the consequences:
- You will get left behind.
- Your competitors will have more time to focus on their core work and make more money while they outsource or automate around them.
- You will have a lot of extra work on your hands trying to keep up with your competitors who are doing it right and making lots of money.
Conclusion
With all this in mind, you should be able to start thinking about how to automate some of the tasks that are holding you back. If you have some ideas about what you could automate but need some help with ‘how’ then we’d love to give you some tips. Alternatively, if you need some inspiration, then give us a call and we will talk you through some of the amazing things our customers have been able to do with simple Automation & AI.
What’s next: