Are you struggling to find enough hours in each day to manage everything that needs to be done while running your small business? In the early days of a startup or business launch, you may have to be the owner, manager, recruiter, and trainer all in one.

Fortunately, it’s the age of small business automation. If you can’t delegate tasks to employees you can’t afford yet, you can delegate them to business tools that lighten your load, streamlining onboarding, training, accounting, HR, customer support, and more. This can be even more valuable if part or all of your workforce is remote!

Here are just a few of the areas in which you can utilize small business systems and tools to reap the benefits of automation.  Just adding two or three could help you put your business on autopilot!

Where to add small business systems and tools

Organization

Forget having to check multiple email accounts every day, or search for files through multiple platforms. Google Suite lets you direct all of your emails into one single inbox and brand it with your company domain. You can link documents and spreadsheets, and sync everything in your calendar so everyone in your organization is on the same page. Best of all, searching inside Gmail or Google Drive is extremely easy meaning you’ll never misplace important information again.

Communication

Want an easy to use, chat like function that also lets you file share, private message, and carry on multiple conversations with multiple people or groups? Slack makes it easy to maintain communication with everyone on your team from virtually any device. No more chasing down the person you need - just ping them in Slack and get an instant update. You can even send them a file on the fly.

Project management

There are so many ways to keep projects flowing smoothly and deadlines are met when you use small business systems like Basecamp, Asana, or Teamwork. Pick the system that works best for you, add employees, and assign tasks and due dates. It can be that simple. You can even bring vendors or clients into the loop if needed to consolidate approvals to key steps in any process.

Workflows

Get even more out of your systems when you hook them together with a workflow management system like Zapier. You can create processes that allow one event to trigger others. Imagine getting an email with an important file, and having that file download to your storage system of choice, alert the next team member of a pending task, and send you a notification - all without you even having to press a button. That’s what automation can do for you and your small business. 

Accounting

Harvest helps you track employee hours and productivity, funneling all information through a single easy to use system. Gusto allows you to practically automate invoicing, accounts receivable and payable, benefits, and more. Turn your payroll department into a well-oiled machine and take the headache out of tax time when you lean into small business systems that help you do more, both better and faster. 

Customer satisfaction

Want to get more feedback from your customers but don’t have time to personally chase contacts down? Automate the data collection process with tools like YesInsights. You can create single question email and website surveys, letting you collect simple answers to your most pressing queries. You can identify problem areas and create solutions to deliver better customer experience and higher customer retention.

Industry-specific tools

Working in specific industries often means having access to tools designed just for your needs. For example, real estate agents can take advantage of DotLoop, which simplifies transaction management for agents and brokers. Any industry you work in is likely to have similar tools, systems, or software designed to organize and facilitate faster, smoother workflows that are almost hands-free.

Onboarding 

Ready to push paper to the side and enter the modern age? Take your onboarding the next level with Trainual, designed to take your new hire from the recruitment phase to work-ready and continue providing support for months. Trainual empowers your new employee, guiding them through the onboarding process and helping them learn to self direct their efforts even before their first day on the job. The result is better employee retention and higher employee satisfaction.

The best part? All of the tools mentioned here can integrate with Trainual, meaning you could have your entire business running like clockwork in no time. Just hook your systems together and watch as your workload lightens. You can spend less time on the small stuff, and more time on doing what you love - growing your business into the powerhouse you’ve always dreamed of.

Are you ready to embrace the future of small business? It only takes one small commitment to get the ball rolling. Start at step one, putting Trainual to work for you as your ultimate onboarding and training system for new hires, integrating with HR. Then add more cogs to the machine in the form of high-quality small business systems like Zapier and others listed here.

You’ll instantly start enjoying the benefits of a company that is optimized for ultimate efficiency and productivity. The future is now!