The entire process of running a business is riddled with bureaucracy and inefficiencies. But there are ways to streamline and increase efficiency, making you more profitable and organized.
The idea, of course, is that your business processes all work together to produce the desired result. Your marketing process should lead to more leads and opportunities, and your support process should generate satisfied customers.
In this article, we’ll discuss four ways to streamline your business processes.
Accounts payable automation
One of the biggest time wasters in business is waiting on payments to process. Having to hunt down invoices, make phone calls, or manually enter data into payment systems can amount to hours of wasted time and thousands of dollars in lost invoices.
AP automation tools like Bill.com simplify your approval process, pay the amounts owed, and sync essential data. It also creates a way to trace and audit data, so you have a record of every transaction.
You can implement AP automation through a software program, an online payment service, or even a simple automated system set up by your finance team. Either way, it allows you to save monthly hours, which you can apply to other tasks.
Assess existing processes and workflows
The first step is to evaluate the existing business processes that are in place. Look at each function and consider whether it works to your company’s advantage or disadvantage. Evaluate the individual tasks to determine the most crucial thing to do, then follow up with the subsequent most pertinent assignments.
Work from the top of your list down, which should allow you to develop a roadmap for process improvement. Be sure to look at any partnerships or alliances you have in place or any changes made in the industry.
If you have any policies, procedures, or processes that need to be updated, now is the time to do it before they’re implemented and become hard-coded into business operations.
Offer training
Specific training initiatives can have a significant impact on your productivity. With technology, it can be challenging to stay updated regularly with all the new software tools. Human resource department training should also keep employees up-to-date with changes in the industry and specific processes that need improving.
Training is a great way to save time and increase efficiency. It eliminates mistakes from the equation and encourages consistent behavior from everyone involved in the process.
Track and report
Whether you’re tracking your investments, marketing, or customer service efforts and results, having an excellent process to report on how business is going can provide valuable insight into what needs re-evaluation.
Now more than ever, the ability to measure and track any number of things is simple with software solutions. Some solutions can help you automate your business metrics and quality assurance or those that integrate with existing customer relationship management (CRM) systems.
Wrap up
There’s no way to avoid processes altogether, but there are straightforward ways to streamline them and make the whole organization more efficient and productive. Utilize all of the above methods to your advantage and reap the rewards of a more efficient process.
