How to Automate Business Processes On a Budget

By: Kevin Shuler on December 17th, 2020

Print/Save as PDF

How to Automate Business Processes On a Budget

Process Automation  |  Low-code Development Platform

Why Business Automation Matters

Business process management is an essential part of a growing business. Without it, organizations could face low customer satisfaction, lack of communication, and a higher chance of error.

By letting computers take care of menial, repetitive day-to-day tasks, automation can save businesses money and time. Without the human component in handling data, there is a lower chance of error.

And with the reduced hours of labor, employees can concentrate on delivering more important and fulfilling tasks. Workflow efficiency through automation can generate more revenue while decreasing expenditures, giving businesses stability, and saving them money.

The most important benefit of business workflow management is the increase in customer satisfaction. The time saved through automation can be invested in improving their experience. Faster task completions, more attentive staff, and greater resources are always appreciated by customers. Higher revenues and faster business growth can be achieved through automation.



Get Your Free eBook: Integrating Content Services into Low Code Applications


How to Automate Business Processes On a Budget Image 2
Processes You Can Automate in Your Business

The first step of workflow efficiency management is choosing which processes get automated. Generally, back-office tasks, such as HR or IT, can be automated the most efficiently. This can vary depending on the business.

A useful tool in making this decision is mapping out the current workflows and identifying key characteristics in processes that point toward automation.

Repetitive tasks kill creativity, productivity, and waste money by taking a lot of time. Handling spreadsheets, calculations, generic email responses can be left to a computer. Decision-making is stressful and tiring for employees; if the processes are standardized, delivering these decisions should be automated too.

A few common examples of what other businesses have chosen to automate are invoice processing, data entry, payroll, employee onboarding, and system queries. Automating tasks such as these allows a low error rate and high-efficiency workflow to improve an organization and maximize growth.

How to Automate Business Processes On a Budget Image 3

Business Automation Technologies

Digitizing business processes for automation is a great way to improve workflow efficiency. But just like choosing which processes to automate, choosing what kind of technology suits the automation needs most is an important decision.

Most people think of AI and complicated lines of code when they think of automation technologies. These are sophisticated solutions that suit select business needs. However, they tend to cost a lot to create and implement. Most business processes don’t require such investments. The easy and cheap solution for these is low- or no-code automation.

Low code allows businesses to build customized digital applications to manage workflow efficiencies. The user-friendly drag-and-drop interfaces of these platforms mean minimal IT involvement and quick build times.

Flexibility and agility are the most important features of low- and no-code, which means businesses can adjust and optimize routine tasks. Implementing these technologies also comes with the added benefit of minimizing technical debt.

How to Automate Business Processes On a Budget Image 4

Workflow Automation for Small Business

Regardless of the size of the business, automation can be implemented in almost any workflow. It’s a tool that maximizes ROI and company growth, and even small business owners should adapt to the digitization process.

Administrative tasks, such as employee onboarding, leave approval, reimbursements, purchase orders, and invoicing, are all familiar to small businesses, and they can all be automated.

Using the right software and an applied strategy, workflow process management can be easily optimized. This gives organizations more time to invest in improving other areas of their service.

Small business owners may think that workflow optimization is an expensive adventure. But luckily, workflow automation with low- and no-code platforms is an affordable investment.

Finding the Best Software to Automate Your Business

There are countless automation software out there, offering various services. But choosing the right one for your business is an important decision. Factors to take into account are what problems the automation hopes to solve, which employees will be charged with its implementation, and what existing software will the automation be based on.

For small businesses, a low- or no-code software is the best option to automate their workflow. They are cheaper than AI or traditional application platforms, easier to use and implement, and require little to no coding knowledge.

The applications built through these interfaces are customized to suit particular business needs, and they don’t generate massive amounts of technical debt either.

How to Automate Business Processes On a Budget Image 5

The Role of Tech Consultants for Successful Automation

The world of business process automation is a complicated territory. Although it is clear that implementing such technologies can benefit any organization, coming up with a strategy, the right tools to use, and training employees to utilize these is not an easy process.

Small businesses can benefit from working out automation and integration strategies with tech consultants. Essentially, a tech consultant will learn the business and use industry experience to create a roadmap to implementation automations and integrations that will yield the highest ROI. This helps businesses avoid wasting resources on tactics that won’t bring the best return.

Tech consultants also give small businesses a way to expand or build an IT department without spending more resources. Basically, a tech consulting firm will step in and help as needed, helping a business grow and scale without tripping over its own systems.

Free Report: Integrating Content Services into Low Code Applications

About Kevin Shuler

Kevin Shuler is the CEO of Quandary Consulting Group (https://quandarycg.com/), a team of tech consultants that specialize in business process management. They use integrations and automations to help businesses scale as they grow, giving them more time to focus on what matters most.