Category: Business Advice

The 9 step guide to business development

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Here at 1 Accounts we are invested in helping your business develop and succeed. We find allocating some time each week to business development is the best way to really make sure that your business grows according to your plan.

Business development is:

  • any activity that is nurturing the future of your business, not the day-to-day tasks that tend to drain the majority of your time.
  • about nurturing the right relationships so that you can create opportunities for your business and attract loyal clients who value what you and your firm do.
  • highly valuable and is key to the long-term, sustainable success of your firm

So how do you do it and do it well?

1) It’s all about the client

Rather than sell at potential clients, focus on what they need. Always listen to them first and demonstrate empathy with their problems before ever talking about yourself and your firm.

2) Address their problems and fears

Now you know their specific challenges and worries, address them. What’s the biggest headache for your clients and prospects? How can you alleviate this pain for them? Again, talk to them about what keeps them up at night and listen. They’ll tell you all you need to know.

3) Solve their specific problem

If you already have a product or service that solves their biggest pain point, great! If you don’t, create something from scratch. Diversifying could open you up to a whole new target audience.

4) Think about your main offering

In a single sentence, sum up what you offer to your clients and this will be your brand tagline. Steer clear of things like “we give a personalised service” and be more specific. Do you take away a specific fear and help your clients sleep at night? Do you give them more time to spend with their family?

5) Differentiate yourself with your website and social media

You need to be spreading the word about how you can help your clients. Essentially, you need to be helping them to find you. Make sure you have a high-quality website that is SEO-optimised and has pop-ups offering valuable resources. You will also need to be regularly active on social media.

6) Build your brand

This takes time, but becoming an expert in what you do will reap the rewards. Use your tagline offering in everything that you put out there and produce content consistently. Whether it’s blogs on your website or posts on social media, create that emotional connection and you’ll see that people will engage.

7) Make it easy to get in touch

People will take the path of least resistance so make it easy for them to contact you. Contact details should be easy to find on your website and all call to actions should be clear throughout your marketing materials.

8) Nurture the relationship

So much business is lost through a lack of following up, so be there in front of your clients and prospects to build those relationships. Every blog post you’re sharing or newsletter you’re sending out should offer value; it should answer a question or solve a problem or inspire action. There is real value in regularly being in front of your clients, just as long as what you’re saying is useful to your target audience.

9) Focus on getting your existing clients to buy more from you

You already have a great relationship with your existing clients and they already like you, trust you, and know first hand the value that you offer. It makes sense then, to help them get more from you.

It really is as easy as 1,2,3…9

While business development is essentially sales, you need to always be thinking about who you are targeting and what they want to hear, rather than talking about yourself and what makes your firm special. What are their specific problems and aspirations? Using these 9 steps, you can get creative with your messaging and really stand out to your prospects.

Is your small business struggling to make a decent profit? Here are six little known profit holes.

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With the economy as unpredictable as it has been lately it is essential for small business owners to take a good look at your overheads and cost of sales. Add into the mix the rising cost of labour, materials and shipping, and this exercise to examine your cost base may be the difference between your business having a good year next year or going under. This article will look at the 6 most common profit holes that many small businesses may have.

1) Pricing: Has it kept up with your costs?

It’s been a difficult few years and you may be thinking that your customers and clients can’t swallow an increase. Well, think again – If Starbucks and Costa Coffee can afford to still charge eye-watering amounts for a slice of cake and a coffee throughout the pandemic, then you can look at your pricing.
Often, the biggest profit hole we see with our clients is around a poor pricing strategy. Such as:

  • Are your sales team discounting too much in order to make the sale? Particularly for wholesale or bulk orders?
  • Have you kept your prices static whilst your costs have increased?
  • Are your prices in line with your cost base now, rather than when you were a much smaller business? For example, if your prices have not changed since you ran your business from the kitchen table, then it’s time to relook at your pricing.

2) Do you have a revolving door of employees?

Hiring new staff members is expensive; recruitment agency costs, training costs and senior management time spent hiring and training. Losing good employees is even more expensive – both in terms of opportunity cost and also the hit on morale when a good person leaves. If you do have an employee turnover problem, it’s time to take a good look at how to increase the levels of employee engagement in your business. Being very blunt here, you may look into the mirror to see if you personally may be part of the problem.

3) Software costs: Have you had a good look to see what you’re really using?

Those £15 a month per user type subscriptions really do add up over time. How many user licences are you still paying for but don’t actually need? How many of those pieces of software that you decided to try out are you actually using? If you used all the features of your core software, how many other licences or subscriptions could you ditch? You may find that a good look at your software stack could yield a large amount of ‘money down the back of the sofa’ each month.

4) Suppliers: Are they taking the proverbial?

This often happens when we’ve worked with a supplier for years and both you and they have got comfortable and complacency sets in. This cosiness could be hiding the fact that you might not be getting the service you require. Even worse, the prices you are paying might now out of step with the marketplace. Don’t let inertia and a desire to avoid conflict stop you from having a ‘state of the nation type’ conversation with the supplier.
In our experience, the first place to look at is your spending with marketing suppliers. Then your telephone and internet suppliers. Ask yourself; What are they really delivering? Do they need a shakeup? Our advice to you is if this resonates with you, have that conversation!

5) Not using automation – particularly in your financial processes

The cloud revolution which we keep harping on about has been a game-changer for not just accountants. The digital tools out there will help your business cut out so much physical paperwork and manual entry. For example, if you are a small cafe or pub you can now get great phone apps that will allow customers to place their orders from the table. Thus, improving the efficiency of your operation and waiting staff.
Using bank rules, email rules and other types of automation in conjunction with software such as Dext can reduce the time it takes to do your books or manage staff expenses. Why not have a chat with us to see where using apps and cloud-based software can take the grind out of your financial processes and systems?

6) Doing it yourself

How long does it take you to do stuff which should be outsourced or done by others in your business? This ‘doing it yourself’, particularly when it comes to things like bookkeeping or VAT returns, is often a false economy. Your time is much more valuable delighting customers and clients and running your business than puzzling over whether you can or can not claim VAT on your company car expenditure or that coffee with a client.
Using the right people and suppliers to free you up to do what you’re best at is often a great way to generate more profit. It goes without saying that we are always happy to talk about whether we are a good home for your bookkeeping and other financial processes.
If you address these 6 points in your business then you will be in a much better position to face whatever happens next with the economy.

 

How to encourage reluctant staff to return to the office

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Since the government advice to work from home was lifted earlier this year and employees have been making their way back into the office, it seems some employees are more enthusiastic than others. How do we encourage our reluctant staff members to return to the office happily, rather than handing in their resignations?

Throughout this article, we will explore the various incentives and business adaptations you can make to encourage your employees to come back to the office:

1) Outline your operational requirements

Many businesses have started adopting a hybrid business model as they combine all the best bits of on-site and remote working! Flexible schedules, greater work-life balance, and fewer expenses are just some of the positives for both employers and their staff!

However, before you can embrace this new business model, you need to hash out the non-negotiable requirements for running your business. For example:

  • The minimum amount of on-site hours per staff member per week.
  • Whether there are any extenuating circumstances that overrule these mandatory hours.
  • Your core office hours.
  • How often your entire team needs to meet in person.
  • What resources your staff will need to work remotely.

2) Speak to your staff

Some employees will be more eager to return to the office than others – that’s just a given. Talking to the more reluctant team members and asking them what they want might give them the encouragement they needed.

By conducting surveys and organising group sessions, you can start finding solutions to satisfy your staff members, improve engagement and protect your retention rates.

3) Offer them incentives

 No one wants to spend their days in a dull, drab office. So it’s your responsibility to make your office an attractive and exciting place to be!

Here are some suggestions to help you spruce up your space and incentivise your employees:

Redecorate your office space – a lick of paint can go a long way.

Provide on-site catering – seriously, save your staff from those stale sandwiches.

Invest in new equipment – try upgrading your dated tech and replacing old furniture.

Offer corporate discounts – predominantly for nearby locations like gyms, coffee shops or food establishments.

4) Accommodate ALL of your employees

When making decisions about your business, it can be easy to focus on the wants and needs of your front runners and management team. The trouble is that this approach is far from inclusive.

It is our priority as business owners to continually promote inclusivity and diversity. So make sure you’re accommodating the needs of ALL your employees – especially those who are underrepresented in professional settings, including people of colour, disabled individuals and women.

The future is flexible!

After two years of working at home, it’s no wonder some staff members are reluctant to give up their home comforts. Instead of demanding that everyone must return to the office, show some compassion by trying to reach a compromise.

Flexible working offers many benefits for both you and your employees – so give it a try! It could be the answer to unlocking a more efficient and engaged team.

Flexible Working: Moving from a time-based approach to an outcome-based approach

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Flexible working isn’t new. In fact, research shows that many of us (87%) wanted to work on a more flexible basis in 2018 and 2019. What is new, however, is the many businesses that have continued to adopt either completely remote working or a hybrid model since the pandemic transition.

They have continued to work this way as flexible working results in a better work-life balance, higher productivity, increased motivation, and reduced staff turnover. Not to mention that it’s an employee’s market right now, so many businesses will need to offer flexible working to compete for talent!

While an outcome-based approach leads to these benefits, it is a steep learning curve. Primarily having to change leadership styles and learning to trust that work is getting done. It is doable however. Here is how to make flexible working work for you and your business.

How to successfully implement flexible working

  1. Make sure that employees have the right technology and tools – we’re not just talking about laptops and phones. To support flexible working, you also need to deploy tools for chat, video and virtual meetings as well as integrating company systems, intranets or social platforms.
  2. Ensure that your employees have the necessary training –you need to make sure they have the resources and training so that they can use any new software effectively.
  3. Change your management style – you need to take a more ‘coach-like’ approach and let go of control. Train and support your employees and delegate authority as well as tasks.
  4. Communicate more frequently – this is essential for building trust and relationships and to minimise misunderstandings. The more you can encourage collaboration and team involvement, the better.
  5. Celebrate successes – positivity is key when working from home so make a point of celebrating individual and team successes. It does wonders for self-motivation.
  6. Give your employees more support – some employees may have difficulty managing their workload with their family and other worries, especially if they are going through some personal difficulty. Bear this in mind and actively help them with their work-life balance.

How to move to an outcome-based approach

  1. Start with the overall business vision and direction – when working virtually, it’s important to communicate the overall vision to your employees. Everything flows from this vision, so keep coming back to it.
  2. Define high-level business outcomes – next, you should communicate the key business outcome that you are all aiming to achieve. It’s more effective if this outcome reflects the value that your work delivers.
  3. Help each employee define their own specific outcome – this is essential for remote working! If every individual knows their specific outcome that they are accountable for and how that relates to the bigger picture, it drives them to achieve it.
  4. Measure performance differently – you will need to use a project management tool to review team activity regularly. You can also distribute employee surveys, monitor and evaluate certain metrics or have regular check-ins with each employee.

These tips will ensure that your business continues to grow and thrive along with your employees, who will be happier and healthier as well.

How to increase your business capacity without breaking the bank!

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Winning new clients should be an exciting part of growing a business. And yet, due to the current climate, this rising demand is often met with limited resources and labour shortages.

Throughout this article, we’ll explore how outsourcing and offshoring can help you increase your capacity without breaking the bank!

What is the difference between Outsourcing and Offshoring?

Outsourcing is when a business hires a third party to perform tasks in order to improve efficiency and cut back on costs. Think of this as hiring freelancers.

Offshoring, however, is when a business bases some of its in-house operations overseas. By moving entire processes overseas (i.e. manufacturing or customer services), they’re able to source cheaper labour and gain access to a much larger talent pool.

Both options serve as a cost-effective solution to labour shortages and fulfilling increasing demands.

4 ways outsourcing can increase your capacity

Now that we understand what outsourcing and offshoring are, let’s explore how they can help your business increase capacity:

1. Expanding your skillset

We all understand the importance of identifying and remedying gaps in our workforce. However, hiring and training specialist staff comes at a cost. So, what’s the solution?

By outsourcing global talent, you’re able to employ highly skilled professionals for just a fraction of the cost. In turn, you can address any gaps in your workforce and leverage their talents to expand your services and attract new clientele.

2) Boosting Productivity

By assigning repetitive tasks to your external team members, you can save a lot of time otherwise wasted on labour-intensive, lower-value tasks. As a result, you’re able to boost your existing teams’ efficiency and engagement, scale your overall output and ultimately increase your capacity.

3) Facilitating 24hr operations

Many people are hesitant to outsource global talent because of the time difference. What they don’t realise is that this can actually work in their favour!

By outsourcing a global team, you’re able to extend your working hours and potentially operate 24-hours a day. In turn, you have the opportunity to accept a lot more work and expand your client basis. After all, you’ve practically doubled the number of hours in your working day!

4) Offering fast and flexible labour solutions

Labour shortages are placing a real strain on businesses at the minute. Thankfully, outsourcing provides a fast and flexible solution to this problem!

By hiring freelancers, you’re able to continue growing your business, fulfilling demand and satisfying customers. What’s more, these flexible contracts come with no strings attached, giving you the freedom to adjust your external team to match your capacity and workload.

Expand your team to increase capacity

Instead of surrendering to your current circumstances, try expanding your horizons by outsourcing global talent.

Outsourcing allows you to scale your business, increase your clientele and reach your highest potential – all for a fraction of the price of hiring internally.

So what are you waiting for? Offshoring could be the beginning of your global enterprise!

Why sole traders need a separate bank account

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If you are just about to become a sole trader, or have been one for a while, you might be wondering whether it is worth getting a separate bank account for your business. There is no legal requirement for sole traders to have a separate bank account for their business unlike Limited Companies which are required to do so. This is because HMRC views Limited Companies and the Directors as separate legal entities, whereas sole traders and their businesses are viewed as the same. Therefore a Limited Company is required to keep its bank accounts separate from the personal accounts of the directors. For more information about the differences between these two business structures read our blog.

We usually recommend that all of our sole trader clients get a separate bank account for their business. Here are some of our reasons:

1) It makes your accounts more accurate

Having a separate bank account for your business income and expenses has the obvious advantage of being able to keep any other income and private expenses separate. This will stop any chance that they could become mixed up or confused which will in turn ensure that your bookkeeping and accounts are accurate.

2) It stops you missing anything

Similarly, if all of your business expenses are in one account then you know you will not miss anything. It can be very time consuming to go through your personal account and pick out the transactions that relate to your business, so with a separate account you (or your bookkeeper) will not have to do this!

3) It helps to keep your numbers up to date

If you have your accounts separate and your bookkeeping up to date then you will have a better overview of how your business is performing.

With a personal account, you may not be able to get as clear a view of what your numbers are which could lead to making incorrect business decisions.

4) It makes HMRC inspections easier

In the event that you get an inspection from HMRC, the first thing they will look at is your business account. This means that you won’t have to hand over your personal bank statements to them in the first instance. This process is likely to be a lot more straightforward if HMRC only have one bank account to look through.

5) It makes bookkeeping in Xero easier

We can set your Xero up so that it has a bank feed running to your sole trade bank account. This will mean that we won’t see your personal transactions or need you to send in bank statements for any other account. This could also save you money as our bookkeeping service includes up to 50 transactions per month. Using a personal account is likely to put you over this!

We recommend…

Some banks may charge a monthly fee for a business bank account. You don’t necessarily need to have a specific business bank account set up, however some banks do specifiy in their terms and conditions that you cannot use a personal account for “business use”.

Some banks however do specific bank accounts for sole traders, and don’t charge a monthly fee! We particularly like this one from Starling Bank https://www.starlingbank.com/sole-trader-bank-account/

(We are not affiliated with Starling Bank)

As you can see, it makes so much sense to keep a separate bank account for your sole trade business. It will save you & your bookkeeper time and hassle and make sure that you don’t include or miss anything important from your accounts.

Talent Management Planning: Why Do It?

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Talent management planning is a term we often hear floating around the business world, but what exactly does it mean and why should we do it?

To help you gain a clear understanding, we’ll explore what talent management planning is, what it consists of and, most importantly, why it’s beneficial to both you and your employees.

What is talent management planning?

Talent management planning is all about implementing effective strategies to attract, retain and nurture skilled professionals.

What should a talent management plan consist of?

Each company’s talent management plan will look slightly different based on its unique set of goals and objectives. However, each company’s plan should focus on improving these primary features

  • Recruitment
  • Training and development
  • Employee retention
  • Performance management
  • Employee engagement
  • Succession planning

Why is talent management so important?

Talent management planning helps ensure you’re getting the most out of your teams by implementing systems and processes to support their development and improve their performance.

In short, it is the blueprint for hiring and maintaining a highly-skilled, high-performing workforce, which, as we all know, is imperative to your company’s success.

How does talent management planning benefit your business?

Besides the obvious advantage of strengthening your overall workforce, there are several other benefits to implementing a talent management plan. Some of which include:

  • Increased engagement: by demonstrating a keen interest in your employee’s goals and personal development, you will find they are more engaged with their work, making them more productive and more profitable.
  • Efficient recruitment: you can utilise recruitment software to streamline your recruiting process, filter applicants and ensure you’re attracting only the highest quality candidates.
  • Improved staff retention: by offering your employees consistent opportunities to enhance their skills and advance their careers, you’re providing them with a clear incentive to retain their position within your company.
  • More candidates for succession: by adopting formal performance management techniques, you can see which employees are most suitable for senior roles and adapt their training to prepare them for these positions.

How does talent management planning benefit your employees?

Perhaps the best thing about utilising a talent management plan is that it’s mutually beneficial. To demonstrate our point, here are just a few of the benefits your employees can enjoy as a result of effective talent management planning:

  • Better onboarding process: by refining your onboarding process, employees will be more engaged and more at ease from the get-go. So do your best to make the onboarding process as personal as possible.
  • More training opportunities: by facilitating regular training opportunities, you’re providing your team members with the necessary tools to upskill and advance their careers.
  • Greater career autonomy: by partaking in mentorship programmes, you’re able to support your employees with their own career goals by offering advice, recommending training programmes and aligning them with appropriate internal opportunities.
  • Positive working culture: by assisting employees with their goals, funding their training and fostering a culture of growth and development, your employees will be more motivated, engaged and invested in your business.

Don’t underestimate the value of talent management planning

There are countless benefits to developing a talent management strategy, so don’t overlook this opportunity to strengthen your team! Invest in their development, support their career aspirations and focus on creating a compelling company culture. Your employees, profit margins and performance metrics will all thank you for it!

How to combat rising wages and staff shortages

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It’s no secret that hundreds of small businesses are suffering from increased wage costs and staff shortages. These issues span multiple industries, from hospitality to construction, and have only intensified since the beginning of the pandemic.

So, how do you handle rising demands with limited labour?

To help you navigate these challenging times, we’ve curated a list of strategies to boost your staff retention, improve your recruitment processes and increase your profit margins.

Here are our 5 strategies for combating rising wage costs and staff shortages:

1) Hire graduates, and interns, and apprentices

Graduates and interns offer an effective and inexpensive solution to staffing shortages.

Straight out of college or university, these young adults are primed for training, ready to be moulded to your company’s exacting needs. What’s more, studies have shown that hiring graduates can significantly increase your staff retention rates. Approximately  57% of graduates still retain their position five years later.

Hiring an apprentice, whilst quite an investment in time, can also be beneficial for many companies.

Although hiring a graduate may not be a quick fix, it’s a brilliant way to source new talent – plus, the ROI is second to none.

2) Invest in your employees

Loyalty is a two-way street. Therefore if you want your employees to remain loyal to your company, you need to invest in their development.

Provide them with opportunities to upskill, fund their training and encourage them to diversify their skillset. Not only will it improve your retention rates by 30-50%, but it will also allow you to cultivate a team of highly skilled professionals.

3) Utilise mergers and acquisitions

More and more companies are deciding to partake in mergers and acquisitions. Why? Because resources are limited and successors are few and far between.

By combining forces the parties involved gain access to a larger workforce, a greater array of talents and more viable candidates to succeed their business.

Plus, with an increased market share, companies are better equipped to manage rising wage costs as they acquire more capital and increase their profit margins!

4) Delegate administrative tasks

With labour dwindling and demand rising, our employees are really being pushed to their limits. So don’t exacerbate the problem by burdening them with non-essential responsibilities. Instead start automating repetitive tasks and hiring administrative staff to handle any paperwork.

Although investing in new employees and tech can be costly, they can notably increase productivity, profits, and employee engagement. Stop placing unnecessary strain on your staff and start streamlining your administrative tasks!

5) Update your recruitment style

Now more than ever you need to be investing your resources into your recruiting process. After all if you want to solve your staffing issues, you’ll need to attract and attain new employees. So what can you do to improve your recruitment style?

Firstly, you need to be harnessing the power of social media. This allows you to broaden your search whilst offering applicants an accurate insight into your business.

Secondly, you want to focus on your company culture as this can quickly attract or deter applicants. Ask yourself, what makes your company the place to work? Do you offer impressive employee benefits? Do you accommodate flexible working?

Whatever it is that makes your company attractive and unique, make sure to funnel that into your recruiting process.

Take care of your employees

Running a business is never easy, but our current climate is making things even more challenging. We wanted to end this discussion with some words of encouragement.

If your business can survive Brexit, a global pandemic and an inflating economy all in quick succession, it can also survive these labour shortages. Just remember to streamline your processes, adapt your recruitment methods and take care of your staff, as they will take care of your business.

6 key changes businesses should have made over the past 2 years

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The pandemic has been transformative in many ways. It has changed how we view our health, how we communicate and, of course, how we run our businesses. Whilst we certainly wouldn’t want to do it again, it has taught us a lot of valuable lessons. In light of the lesson we’ve learnt, we thought we’d share 6 key changes we believe all businesses should have made since the pandemic:

1) Hybrid Working

Before the pandemic hybrid working was a lot less common, however this is no longer the case. Recent studies have shown that 76% of companies have adopted a hybrid working model since the pandemic because it has proven to be so effective!
Employees are more productive, more engaged and generally happier when provided the opportunity to choose their work environment. Your employees and your profit margin will thank you for adopting a more flexible working model!

2) Internal Communications

Learning to navigate a business in social isolation has really highlighted the importance of effective communication, not only between team members but between firm owners and partners too.
We made sure to have daily zoom meetings with the whole team throughout the pandemic so that we all had a chance to see and talk to each other, even if there was nothing particular to report. Without these open streams of communication we would not have been able to adapt our businesses, engage our teams or maintain operations during the Covid-19 crisis.
Therefore, you must continue to prioritise and invest in your internal communications. After all, if the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that effective communication is a valuable commodity.

3) Digital Processes

Working from home forced us to adapt in more ways than one. However, the most notable difference has been the global shift towards virtual working and digital processes.
Adopting cloud-based software has innumerable advantages, but perhaps the most noteworthy is its ability to increase efficiency. In a recent survey, 48% of respondents agreed that cloud computing increased their efficiency thanks to cloud automation and broad network access.
So, if you haven’t already, do yourself a favour and start streamlining your processes by using a digital payment process and introducing automation tools to your workflow.

4) Advisory Services

If guiding our clients through the pandemic has shown us anything, it’s that our advice is both valuable and scalable. Developing your advisory services is something you need to make sure you are doing.
Offering tailored advice can be a simple way to utilise your expertise, enhance client relations and increase revenue. So don’t limit yourself to debits and credits – expand your services by offering relevant business advice!

5) Outsourcing

In a time when we had to adapt quickly many businesses had to outsource labour and resources to operate, and that continues to be the case. Labour shortages have forced us to seriously evaluate what we can and can not deliver in-house.
Yet, despite the great resignation and the global pandemic we’ve come to find there are actually many benefits to outsourcing.
Outsourcing can improve revenue, increase efficiency, and reduce operational costs. What’s more, it enables you to delegate tasks outside of your expertise, allowing you to channel your energy into what you do best. Don’t be afraid to ask for help as you’ll need it if you want to scale your business.

6) Refined client base

They say that every cloud has a silver lining. Whilst the pandemic did present us with many hardships, it also allowed us to take a good look at our client base.
If you’re yet to do so, we highly recommend reviewing your client base as well. Who are your high-value clients? Which clients drain your resources? The aim is to identify which clients you can afford to let go in order to save yourself both time and money.
Although culling clients is never easy, refining your client profile can be extremely beneficial if done respectfully. This will help you make space for more clients that fit your ideal client profile!

Future-proof your business

Unfortunately Covid-19 won’t be the last challenge we face. There will always be another bump in the road or another fire to put out. By implementing these suggestions you have the ability to streamline your business, optimise your performance and keep up with your competitors, all of which are essential when preparing your firm for the future.
Try not to be despondent when times get tough. Remember, challenges are also opportunities for growth and innovation.

How automation can improve your efficiency and productivity

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Automation was already on the rise pre-pandemic, but now it has become a business priority. The positive benefits of automation pay dividends for those businesses that invest in it. Many business owners don’t know that accountants can offer a lot of assistance in this area: streamlining and automating processes to improve business efficiency, so here are the many benefits.

1) Automation reduces the time spent on repetitive tasks and the risk of human error.

Expenses is an area that is notoriously labour-intensive, time-consuming for staff to submit and finance departments to process, and it’s extremely prone to human error. The same goes for invoicing and purchase order processing. However, with a streamlined and automated workflow, the whole process is connected through a single system from start to finish. This means it’s a lot quicker and, therefore, cheaper (less time is wasted, and the risk of manual input errors are eliminated), and skilled staff can now spend their time on higher-value tasks.

2) Automation results in better credit control.

Late payments are one of the biggest causes of stress for business owners, not to mention it has a huge negative impact on cash flow. With the use of digital payment process, however, late payments can be greatly reduced. Automation makes it easier and faster for businesses to chase payments; it increases the chances of invoices being paid on time, and it saves 15 hours on average per week on credit control management.

3) Automation gives you accurate real-time reporting.

Knowing your numbers is crucial for business success. However, it is both time-consuming and expensive to have your staff monitoring every KPI and to have to trawl through all the data. With automation, however, you have the ability to see your overall business performance at any given time. With real-time financial reports, you can then accurately budget and forecast cash flow and make effective business decisions.

4) Automation increases both client and staff satisfaction.

Contrary to what people believe, automation does not take away from human interaction. In fact, it does the opposite. Speeding up and streamlining business processes means that your staff have more time and energy to better serve your clients. It gives them the time and means to respond to needs and nurture stronger client relationships.

As well as improving customer service, automation also leads to higher employee engagement. Your staff will no longer have to concern themselves with paperwork or mindlessly boring manual tasks. They will now be free to focus on higher-level, more rewarding tasks such as spending more time with clients to understand their goals and how the business can help deliver those. Satisfied and engaged staff will directly contribute to growing your business so this is a very important benefit of automation.

5) Automation improves productivity and the bottom line.

Streamlining processes means that staff and the business as a whole work more effectively and efficiently. This time can then be spent on the higher-value tasks that will increase revenue. As well as enhancing workflow, automation can also help solve the current talent shortage as employees can be better trained and developed on the job.

Save time and money with automation

Too often, business owners spend too much time working in the business rather than on it. However, with automation, employees can be relieved from these day-to-day menial tasks to focus on what will directly grow the business.

As well as increasing efficiency and productivity, automation can save you a lot of time and money by eliminating errors and reducing staffing and credit control costs. So, if you want to streamline your business, don’t hesitate to reach out!