When compared to established businesses, it is with regard to ‘human’ and ‘financial’ capital that the start-ups dawdle. Many believe ‘automation’ to be a masterstroke for the sure-shot ratcheting up of their startup, be it a t-shirt printing business, manufacturing or sales. It can be quite a task to scale up one’s business in its sprouting phase as there’s generally a lack of access to resources that the big businesses possess. It is here that ‘automation’ comes to the rescue. By streamlining mundane tasks and unifying the necessary resources, the automation process allows a start-up to focus its amenities of time, energy, and money on high profitability tasks. At least 40% of the large businesses are known to have completely mechanized no less than one of their business processes.

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Following are the 7 secrets to scale up your startup by 20X with automation

Secret 1: Employing Automation In Marketing

Whether it’s about creating a marketing or sales process that is more measurable or easing out the process of communicating with leads as your business experiences rapid growth, automating the marketing process can help simplify the complex process without being too heavy on the pocket.

Marketing automation consists of two integral parts: contact activity trigger & marketing action. As the trigger sets off, the marketing action is put into action. A relevant example could be the event in which a website visitor subscribes to your website and opts into your email list. In the given scenario, a welcoming email (marketing action) is sent to the potential customer as they click on the opt-in button (trigger).

Secret 2: Employing Automation In HR

The HR department of any organization heavily places reliance on filling out forms, applications, going through resumes, and importing documents. HR automation tools can ensure secure and error-free handling of the documentation. Not only do these tools ensure quality and accuracy but also provide the supplementary benefit of security. Automating human resources allows a business to back up their data to online servers and prevent the loss of vital information in the event of say, a computer failure or a fire.

Secret 3: Employing Automation For A Competitive Analysis

It is indispensable for start-ups to be hyper-aware of their competitive surroundings and it can be quite a plodding and wayward task to conduct such an analysis manually. For instance, conducting automated price comparisons is a savvy way to pitch one’s business against the competitors by integrating business intelligence into the pricing strategy. The online space is of utmost importance for any business and losing focus on it can lead to the loss of valued clientele.

For example- Using automated price comparison tools can help startups to understand the pricing strategies of their competitors and plan their own to deliver greater value to the client.

Secret 4: Employing Automation In ‘Supply Chain Logistics’

Managing the supply chain can feel like a round-the-clock task. Incorporating automation in the supply chain processes can improve a start-ups demand & inventory forecasting as well as its labor & operational regulation. It can smoothen up the process of goods delivery through automated order entry and enable the start-up to respond to supply chain & customer requests with efficiency and speed.

Secret 5: Employing Automation To Target Customers

Tracking consumer behavior allows a business to create personalized offers. For instance, significant players such as Amazon and Netflix track the buying and watching preferences of their customers with the aim to make better suggestions to them. Automation is used by businesses to simply understand how the customer interacts with the content by keeping a record of what web pages they browse. The consumer behavior data when fed into an AI system comes up with reliable offers within a split second. For instance, an online flower store can not only use automation to market its products online but also target its customers with advertisements created specifically as per their viewing habits on the company’s website.

Secret 6: Employing Automation In ‘order Processing’

Keeping a track of the incoming orders can prove to be a tedious task for any business if it’s solely conducted manually. Fortunately, robotic order processing can help shoot up growth and efficiency by allocating tickets to the right department of the organization. This technique can save up ample time and aid in sending out packages rapidly. Start-up businesses are pushed to employ automated order processing in order to compete with giants like Amazon whose two-day shipping scheme has made it the most riveting option for the customers.

Secret 7: Employing Automation In ‘campaigning’

Automation can be put to use in assimilating data that assists the creation of future products, in understanding development cycles, and in creating relevant marketing campaigns. It does so by making use of information gathered online through social media polls, surveys, and online customer feedback forms. The handling and tracking of such data manually can lead up to errors. Tools such as ‘Google Analytics’ and email-marketing software are used to track data. What system suits a business depends on its personal preferences and long & short-term goals.