Automation is just like delegation, but to AI rather than to a member of your team. You can do this easily and with the right tools, you can truly transform your business and your stress levels.As a business owner, you will probably find delegation difficult at first. This is because the normal mindset of a business owner is perfectionism. You believe you and only you are the best person for the jobs that run your business. But what if this delegation could help you to be your most productive self with the tasks that cannot actually be delegated?Things like supporting your team, building your relationships with clients and so on are tasks that you are often the best at, but tasks such as replying to invoices, documenting expenses, collecting receipts, to name but a few! These are often tasks that the business owner feels they must handle, but because they are not seen as important as the first set of tasks that are important to bringing the money in, these tasks get put to the bottom of your to-do list and ultimately get left until the last minute, causing unwanted stress and hassle, as they are essential tasks to help your business run, especially if they are accounting tasks.You don't want to leave your accounts to the last minute, not just because your accountant will probably have to do everything in a rush and therefore charge you extra for the last minute documents and filing, but also because it is always best to stay on top of your accounts so you can know what is working and what needs transforming on your business on a weekly or monthly basis.If you are currently spending valuable time chasing your tail, delivering services and products to your clients, arranging appointments, and paying expenses (and much more!) then you are wasting your valuable time that could be spend building your business. Automation is the solution that can work with you to help you get back this precious valuable time.
It all starts with evaluating the problems at hand and then formulating the solutions. This may feel like it will take more time to note down all of the processes and tasks that need to be automated, rather than just doing them, but let us be honest - you are wasting time worrying about doing the tasks themselves and they are ultimately not getting done. If for example, you want to get into the habit of going to the gym, you don’t decide that for the next 30 days you will wake up every morning and put on your training gear. Then for the following 30 days, you will put on your gear and get into the car and then for the last 30 days you will drive to the gym. No. You get on and do it. You go from A to B in the quickest possible way.The same system is needed for automation. You wouldn't go from keeping all of your receipts in the drawer under your desk to spreadsheets, then to the automation systems that are available. You would go straight to the best solution - the automation! With a good accountant by your side you will be able to find out the right automation system for your needs, and they will walk you through how to get going with that automatic process, which will then become a habit for you and your team. Consider the amount of hours that are being taken up by you having to go through all of your receipts, adding them to your spreadsheet, to then send to your accountant to reconcile (or the amount of money it costs for them to do this for you). You can completely transform the accounting side of your business with the right automatic systems and tools in place that mean you can just send the expenses straight to your accountant through the software, for them to reconcile quickly and effectively.This sort of automatic accounting can also transform your business to only finding out the position of your business at your year end, to getting monthly management reports that help you to see where your bottlenecks are when it comes to profits and losses, as well as areas you can help to effectively save on finances alone.You can then take this automation and elevate it further with automating your regular invoicing, payroll, and expense payments so your team, your clients, and your business bank account are handled effectively and proactively, rather than waiting until the last minute on the last day of the month to remember to send all of these through.Imagine how much time and stress you will save when these accounting automations are in place, and then think where else you could automate! Perhaps your calendar could be automated through an online tool which enables clients to instantly book meetings into your diary, with automatic reminders and bookings. You could automate your packing and delivery process with the use of tools that easily and efficiently process orders, the list goes on.It just takes some time, and the humble mindset of stepping back and seeing that your excellent knowledge and skills could be spent elsewhere in your business over the tasks that take up your time and are often getting put to the bottom of your always growing to-do list. Acknowledge that delegation and automation are an effective way to build your business, and will help you get your time back to spend on growth rather than operations.
