How To Improve Your Startup’s Efficiency With Technology?
Category: How-tos
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Technology and numerous gadgets we all use on a daily basis nowadays can often be a huge distraction in our lives. But on the other hand, modern technology and the right tools can make a big difference in the world of business.
To be precise, taking advantage of the right software, tools, and gadgets could help you accelerate the growth of your business when you need it the most. In the earliest phases of your entrepreneurial journey, you will make good use of some quick growth.
One good way to achieve this is to rely on technology to boost the business’s efficiency. Here’s how you can do it.
Communication Apps
Poor communication can be a serious problem that can negatively impact your business’s efficiency. That is why you need to establish clear channels of communication using good apps.
For instance, if you decide to try out web-based communication tools, you will have a chance to experience a reliable way of communication with your colleagues and clients.
These tools are available across a wide range of devices and can be used from a fixed location or on the go. In turn, this offers a greater degree of flexibility both to you and your employees.
Additionally, if you have remote employees (where some even work in other countries), you could really make good use of communication apps that offer video conferencing functionalities. This is ideal if you want to have face-to-face interactions to better maintain relationships across long distances.
Give this idea a go and see if you can make use of apps like Slack, Microsoft Teams, or WhatsApp. Also, keep in mind that WhatsApp has a business version called WhatsApp Business.
This version offers your business a chance to use the app with WhatsApp Business multiple users. For this to happen, everyone should get the app and then you need to connect the app to a platform that can integrate with WhatsApp Business’s API providers.
Expense Management Tools
Being efficient means taking good care of your business’s finances. Keep in mind that no dollar is so insignificant to be wasted without a good reason.
To avoid wasting money, especially when you want growth, consider investing in good expense software. This tool can help your business streamline expense reporting, processing, and reimbursing through automation. When used correctly, it can help businesses achieve their financial goals more efficiently.
The biggest benefit expense software can bring actually impacts your employees. To be precise, it requires minimal manual intervention, which means that your employees won’t have to spend hours and hours on dull tasks that accountants usually do.
When your employees use good expense management software, most of the work happens without any manual intervention saving time and effort that way. On top of that, automating the entire expense reporting process can also decrease the chances of human error.
Last but not least, with a good expense management tool, you can enjoy better cost-efficiency. When you have an app of this kind, administrative and stationery costs are saved.
Boost Your Efficiency By Automating
An average business wastes a lot of time on tasks that could be automated. Everyone is aware of that, and those who have already installed automation software are those who are truly blessed.
A small business may have even bigger problems if it can’t automate various tasks. When there is a smaller team with a tight schedule, there is no room for an empty walk, so most of the workers have to perform different job duties that they do not excel at.
However, when you implement the right automation tools that can help you speed up data entry, accounting, reporting, and scheduling work activity, you can spare your employees and allow them to focus on what they do best.
Consider investing in:
- CRM software
- Social media automation tools
- Sales software
Time Tracking
Time management is key to efficiency. This is something that is true for businesses of all sizes. However, this is even more important for businesses that have to serve multiple clients at the same time.
Get into the habit of logging activity through a time tracking tool such as Clockify as this can help your business stay on top of the time spent per client.
This will not only ensure that you, as a business, are not being short-changed by over-servicing clients, but it will also bring benefits to your clients since you will be able to plan and manage their monthly activities more effectively.
Finally, tracking your work activities will also make it easier to report back to clients regarding the work you have performed for their projects.
Ensure That Your Team Members Are Satisfied At The Office
It is common knowledge that satisfied and engaged employees are more productive, make fewer mistakes, and produce more profits for their business in the end. Do your best to find the right people and then nurture and support their talent with the best tools out there rather than just expect them to be productivity beasts from day one.
Also, place your focus on employee engagement by making sure your employees:
- Have a good understanding of what you expect from them at work
- Feel respected and heard (their opinion matters)
- Receive feedback from managers
- Have the necessary tools to do their jobs
All of this ties back to engagement and satisfaction. Simply put, companies that are close to their employees identify roadblocks earlier and also have happy employees that are willing to go the extra mile for the higher good. That works wonders when it comes to efficiency.
Final Words
It’s not easy being a startup owner. The most difficult part of every business journey is successfully getting things off the ground and moving past the initial business phases.
However, when you have good productivity and efficiency levels, when your employees are happy and satisfied, and when you implement the latest tech at the office, the sky’s the only limit for you.