By: Kewal Kishan, Founder, Automate Business
With the rise of digitalisation and artificial intelligence (AI) in the world, many businesses are increasingly compelled to adapt to the new norms. The use of digital marketing like social media, creating content through AI, increasing reach through Paid Ads, etc. is becoming the new normal. But, at the same time, businesses seem to be failing to manage all this together, due to constant switching between sales, marketing, operations, and accounts departments.
Even if anyone tries to multi-task and keep their heads in all focal areas, a human, even the smartest one has limited capacity to how much work it can handle or how many tasks they can perform simultaneously. This is where automation comes into play. As per the research conducted by Salesforce, around 89 percent of the employees felt satisfied with their job after their workplace implemented automation and 84 percent people were happy about their company due to this implementation.
Why do businesses need to evolve?
As Charles Darwin theory of evolution suggests: “entities that adjust to their environment have the highest chance of survival”. While its roots are about human evolution, this principle directly applies to modern business markets. The theory “survival of the fittest” entails that businesses that evolve with the changing environments and adapt while leveraging advanced digital transformation strategies will be the ones to thrive.
The recent global pandemic underscored the need for adaptation very acutely. Small businesses all across the world faced tremendous difficulties. Businesses that embraced online marketplaces not only survived but often flourished. This shift required the adapters to quickly keep up with the change which is moving from offline to online business. Automated scheduling, inventory management, customer service, lead generation, etc. all had to be done by different means than the traditional methods.
Many tools and software were developed to help business owners with this change. Without these tools, the operational demands would have overwhelmed the unprepared. This shows how critical automation is for modern businesses.
The impact of automation on small business growth
Automation has become a critical factor for SME business growth, enabling them to overcome resource limitations and improve efficiency.
Small businesses usually tend to have limited teams due to financial constraints, but that does not stop them from aspiring to grow. According to a survey conducted by Forbes, 79 percent of businesses have plans to grow their reach into new markets. Another survey conducted by American Express says that 76 percent of small and midsize businesses are expecting their sales will grow exponentially in the coming five years.
They do not just hope for it, they implement such processes that ease their work, limit the mistakes, and improve productivity. That is how they work to achieve their goals.
With the changing times, businesses have started implementing automated systems that allow them to maximise their potential by up to 10x. From daily task assignments to taking a prospect and making them a customer, everything can be automated.
Automation offers SME businesses a strategic advantage. It allows businesses to address unique challenges with limited resources, thus helping them in their growth-oriented activities. By automating task delegation, workflows can be streamlined. Business owners will be able to track all tasks and team members, manage follow-ups, reduce human errors, and ensure increased productivity.
Need of automation in the age of AI
Before AI became such a strong supportive tool for business, there were already people using many different apps to make their work easier. But these tools still require a human to operate. Yes, it did help save time and resources but when these tools were embedded with AI, the results increased by 3x or more.
AI has brought a revolution in recent times. It has proven its worth by doing things that require countless team members and days of time. AI took control of many aspects of these tools and reduced human dependency to almost zero.
Today, AI can create images, videos, blogs, suggest improvements, provide insights into customer behavior, and much more. If businesses cannot adapt to these changes with time, they are bound to get exterminated by their competitors.
Technology will continue to evolve as we have seen with the recent developments in AI. Automation is set to play a vital role in enabling businesses of small and mid-scale to thrive. Using automation, customer needs can be anticipated, workflows can be optimised, and customers can be supported quickly and efficiently. Any small business that has already implemented such systems will tell you how powerful and efficient their processes have become. These businesses have not only managed to outperform their competitors but ensured that adapting to the latest technology and trends will be a strategic advantage, rather than just a one-time measure. As automation continues to evolve, its role in driving small business growth will only become more integral.
