In the UK, 27% of businesses have already fully implemented IT automation across their processes, with autonomous software driving efficiency and productivity. This makes the country a European leader in automated tech. But how is the shift influencing UK business growth?
Looking at individual businesses and the wider economy, we’ve analysed how using automation to streamline tasks affects the British business landscape. Let’s dive in.
1. Increase Business Output
Automation brings numerous production perks to businesses (including both product and service-based companies).
For example, the ability to complete tasks independently around the clock with no downtime means that the business can maintain constant production. It doesn’t matter if it’s a weekend, the middle of the night, or a holiday; automated systems will keep running.
Over 90% of employees agree that automation increases their productivity, too, helping speed up production for quicker delivery of products and services.
This increased productivity has a number of knock-on benefits for business growth. It can lead to a boost in revenue, for example, which can then be re-invested into scaling strategies to stimulate quicker growth. You might also be able to increase employee wages, helping you secure the top talent you need to scale successfully.
2. Improving Product and Service Quality
Automation could be the answer if you’re looking to improve the quality of your products or services. Through the use of technology, you can:
- Reduce human error
- Improve consistency
- Create a more seamless purchasing process
- Improve customer service
- Speed up production for quicker delivery
All of these benefits directly impact both quality and customer experience, helping establish your credibility and reliability as a business. This is crucial for growth.
For example, card readers automate the cashless payment process, automatically connecting to the card issuer system, verifying the payment, and authorising the transaction. This creates a smoother and quicker purchasing process for both your clients and your employees.
The better experience your customers have with your products or services, the more likely they are to purchase from you again, recommend you to others and leave positive reviews. All of this contributes towards greater business growth.
3. Meet Higher Levels of Demand
Automation increases output and speeds up processes. This, in turn, allows you to take on more orders and meet higher demand levels to scale your business effortlessly.
Let’s say, for example, that you run a video editing company. Automation applies pre-set templates for colour grading, allowing your team to edit in bulk rather than spending time adjusting each individual video’s saturation and contrast. The use of artificial intelligence (AI) also enables automatic audio enhancement and caption generation.
This could help your employees complete a job that previously took over an hour in less than ten minutes. Your team’s capacity to edit videos drastically increases, and you can take on more orders without affecting the quality of your services.
4. Creating New Jobs Across Industries
Looking at business growth and the wider economy, automation is set to create new jobs. This will come as a welcome relief to those worried about technology removing the need for human labour, with over 75% of businesses reporting that automation has created new roles within their organisation.
A further 69% of businesses also agree that automation improves job quality. This could help businesses quickly fill the roles available, fuelling growth without putting the workforce at risk.
In terms of the economy, the opportunity to create more jobs through automation is good news for UK companies. Lower rates of unemployment tend to give the economy a boost, with higher incomes leading to increased spending and the opportunity for nationwide business growth.
5. Helping Businesses Lower Expenses
When creating growth strategies, most ideas will rely on net profit that can be reinvested back into the company.
Businesses that use automation to streamline tasks could find decreased expenses making it easier to fund growth projects. By utilising clever tech, you could:
- See a reduction in labour costs
- See fewer errors
- Streamline production to reduce costly time wastage
- Reduce energy consumption
- Reduce material waste
For example, a clothes manufacturer can use automation to create the ideal layout of pattern pieces on fabric, reducing leftover material after pattern cutting. A digital marketing company can utilise email automation to save time writing and sending formulaic messages.
The lower your business expenses, the higher your net profit, giving companies looking to reinvest a clear reason to automate processes.
5. Tapping into Employee Skills
Automation completes mundane, repetitive tasks that employees previously carried out. These can include:
- Data entry
- Categorising emails
- Replying to customer questions
- Scheduling social media posts
- Calculating invoice totals
- Sorting and backing up files
By removing the need for repetitive tasks to be carried out by humans, employees are free to take on projects that better align with their skill set and bring more growth benefits to the business.
An assistant, for instance, can reduce the hours spent on scheduling and filing, and instead conduct market research to help your development team.
6. Driving Towards the 4-Day Work Week
The possibility of automating tasks is a key driver in moving businesses towards a 4-day work week.
It’s been found that switching to 4-day weeks can decrease employee absenteeism by 65% and reduce turnover by 57%, creating a long-term team who are more engaged in their work. Levels of burnout also decline by over 70%, leading to employees who are focused, motivated, and ready to produce high-quality work.
Automation can make 4-day weeks a possibility for UK businesses. By reducing time spent on repetitive tasks, employees can complete their work quicker and maintain productivity while reducing total working hours.
Final Thoughts
Using automation to streamline tasks, improve customer experience, and increase productivity can undoubtedly pave the way for UK business growth.
We hope this article has given you some insights into the role of automation in scaling, as well as inspiration on how you can incorporate automated tools within your organisation.
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