Ever found that a task takes so much time out of your day that there must be a simpler way to do it? Newsflash: you’re probably right.
Whether it’s our need to control every little thing, we’re ‘too busy’ to spend some time setting something up, or we don’t have a clue how the tech works, we can’t help but make life more difficult for ourselves. When it comes to running your business, if you’re not making use of automation, you’re missing out on a massive growth opportunity.
The benefits of using automation in your business? They’re endless.
Benefits of automation
- It saves you time. Lots of it. If you’re not spending hours working on repetitive tasks, you can put your focus on the stuff that really drives your business forward.
- It minimises human errors. Typos, timings, sending out the wrong documents – these can all be minimised when you streamline your processes.
- It reduces stress. How many times have you tried to rush something through and/or worked into the evening or weekend to get something done that could have been automated? Too many times to count our guess is…
So, here’s how you can start automating your business instantly with these 5 tips:
- Schedule your marketing posts.
Obviously it’s not always possible if you want to intuitively post something, but scheduling content such as social media and blog posts a month in advance will save you so many headaches when it comes to efficiently marketing your business.
- Automate your invoicing and payment reminders.
Nothing’s worse than not getting paid but instead of trying to manually keep track of who needs to pay what and when, set up your invoicing software to send out invoices immediately as a project ends (or whenever you’d normally send one) and set up payment reminders for when that payment would become overdue.
- Set up an appointment scheduler such as Calendly or Acuity Scheduling.
Want people to book in for a call with you? Make it easier for both them and you by letting them do so without having to contact you back and forth for your availability. Simply set your availability in your scheduling system each week and let the scheduler do the rest!
- Streamline your accounting.
If you’re still using a manual spreadsheet to keep on track of your finances, you’re missing a trick. And whilst it’s better to have a spreadsheet over nothing at all, you’re going to save yourself a lot of time and energy by using accounting and expense management software such as QuickBooks or Xero. Not only can you categorise your receipts and quickly see what’s coming in and out, there’s also a ton of automation capabilities you can make use of – which can only be a good thing when the dreaded year end comes around.
- Automate repetitive tasks such as onboarding material.
Got tasks that you do all the time such as setting up a new client folder or sending out a welcome pack? Zapier is an amazing little tool that integrates with all your apps – when you do one thing, it triggers something else. E.g. If you get a new lead, this might trigger an automated email with a link to book a discovery call. The opportunities are endless!
Have a go with these 5 tips and see how you get on – we’d love to hear how automating your business changes things (for the better!) for you.
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