Automate your business using Google APPs - Without your presence

Are you frustrated with the poor performance of your employees and really get irritated when they come up with nothing but excuses? Do operations suck your time and you don’t get time for growing your business? The only problem related to all these issues is the lack of systems and tools.

In today’s busy schedule, business-related tasks must be automated to reduce time and cost applied to it. Automation improves the operational stability and makes it efficient and fast. Running a business without a system is like running a car without an engine, which you can push manually but, however, cannot ride it and scale it.

In this article, we are going to discuss 6 points on how to automate a business, so it works well and generates profit without even the presence of the business owner.

What are the 6 simple steps to automate business?

 Let’s check it out:

1. Create a list of all processes:

In business, we have a lot of processes like lead generation process, sales process, order management, etc. To manage them properly first create a list of all processes and see how one process is dependent on another.  

Now, check out what are the processes that you can introduce in your business workflow to improve teamwork, account-related tasks, hiring employees, generating reports, customer helpdesk, etc. The idea of introducing new processes to the system is to make the system more efficient and automated.

2. Define process:  

With the list of all processes in your hand, start defining each process and create a workflow for each process. This step can be done by using tools like Draw.io through which the whole process workflow can be designed easily. While designing, we have to focus on 3 points -

• Data collection: Who is collecting the data? Is data relevant and accurate. This information must be known.
• Data management: Who are the stakeholders and with whom data is shared?
• Business Reporting: How are you creating the report of it?

 3. Automate Processes using Google Apps:

After defining each process workflow, now identify how you can automate the workflow tasks using Systems and Tools. 

 Google Applications are the best for small and medium enterprises because these cloud-based applications are flexible, cheap, and very easy to implement.

For Data collection, we can use Google Forms, and just by sharing it with clients, we can collect the required data.

For Data management, we can use Google Sheets. We can connect Google Sheets with Google Forms, so that all the data collected in the form get stored in the sheets for better analysis and readability. These sheets can be shared within the team, so that any authorized person can work on it in real-time. Google Sheets also allows you to put restrictions on anyone to view, edit or download the information.

For generating Business Report, there is a tool called Business Data Studio in which we can connect the google sheets and can create a beautiful and user-friendly Business Dashboard. You can also use line graphs, pie graphs, etc. to show, download & analyze Business Reports in a visual graphic manner. 

4. Train your Team on the System:

Train your employees to use Business Automation Tools to automate the processes. Work with them for one week, take a report of how they are working with a new system. Make sure that your employees actually enter the data on it. If they did not enter the data you will never actually know how it is working, how efficient you and your employees are becoming.

5. Analyze the process for one week:

Analyze the whole process for one week and also take feedback from your employees on the advantages of Automated Systems. If changes and improvements are required, then make those changes. Make it live for everybody.

6. Analyze performance and relax:

Now, after successfully implementing and analyzing the automated systems and tools, the task is to just analyze the performances of your employees on it. The Google form, Google Sheets, Feedback Forms, and other data collections tasks will be collected by other employees. Get relaxed, wait, and watch the entire process.  

For more details, you can refer to the video: How to Automate & Systemize your Business so it runs without you by Kewal Kishan - Technology Coach.

The automation will give you the time to work on Growth-oriented tasks for your business. With the aid of Systems and Tools now you can work on scaling and growing your business. Learn how you can build systems on Google Apps to get rid of daily firefighting.