The more effective you can be at running your business, the more chance it has at being profitable. Time is money when it comes to business, and developing excellent time management skills can play a big role in your success.
Almost every business whether it be a one man show or comprised of many employees are using some form of automation. It could be no more than having a laptop to check client emails, but it is a start.
Automation is great, but it comes with its downfalls. For example, using a calculator for math equations has become the norm, but if there isn’t a calculator available for some it can present a real challenge. So, the message here is yes, automation is good but always have a backup.
All automation comes with a learning curve. Most of the online automation is comprised of software. This means you have to learn how it functions and how to use it. The tendency of many is just to learn enough to get themselves going, then they run into snags with it later on, and end up in a mess. What started out as being a time saver has now become a nightmare.
When it comes to automation for your administration tasks no matter what industry you are in you are surely going to find lots available to help you keep your administration tasks organized. One of the biggest tasks in this part of the business is the finances. Even if you have a bookkeeper chances are they are going to want to use accounting software to complete their tasks, and this makes sense. You as the business owner however, need to know at least the basics of the chosen software, and that it is going to be compliant with the CRA regulations for record keeping. You may want to discuss the best choice of accounting software for your business with your small business accountant.
A lot of the business resources have now become available as apps. For example, if you have the task of scheduling a lot of appointments then you may find Appointlet to be an excellent resource. This is a online app that works in conjunction with the google calendar. You can add it right to your website, and set up your appointment availability, then you clients can book in their chosen appointment.
If you are working on a lot of projects at once it can get overwhelming. Even if you try to set up files for each project on your computer it can soon get messy and hard to track. You could use Trello. This allows you to organize your projects onto boards. It is really easy to see what you have on the go at a glance. It has a lot of features and has a multi user platform. If you have others working on your projects you can track their progress via the boards.
There are a lot of business odds and ends to keep track of. Things to do, and daily reminders. Using a resource like Evernote will really help you to stay organized with these.
There are just a few of the many administrative automation resources that are available to you. If you have a task that you would like to automate just type it in your web browser and see what it leads you to. You may be pleasantly surprised.
