A Message from Ron Harris

“We’re proud to support the Richmond Hill High School football cheerleaders—Go Wildcats!—and my granddaughter, who is cheering them on this season. I invite you to explore our article and find helpful ways to improve your business through automation.”

— Ron Harris, President of Harris Technology

From Work to Process: Leveraging Automation to Boost Profits

Every organization relies on a combination of work, processes, people, and technology to achieve its goals. When a business starts, it’s all about getting the work done, often with little organization or defined processes. Over time, this work evolves into more structured processes that ensure consistent results.

You can think of this evolution as a scale. On one side, there’s just work—tasks that get done but without a clear, repeatable process. On the other side are well-defined processes that streamline operations and ensure quality. Supporting this scale are people and technology, which determine how efficiently these tasks are completed.

This article explores how to boost profits by shifting more of the workload from people to technology, automating the daily tasks that keep your business running. By moving along this scale—from work to well-defined processes powered by technology—you can enhance operational efficiency, improve customer experiences, and drive greater profitability.

But before diving into automation, it’s crucial to understand the financial impact. How much do your current manual processes really cost, and how can automation reduce those costs? Let’s start by examining the true cost of a process.

The Hidden Costs of Manual Processes

Every manual process in your business comes with a cost. For example, a 90-minute process costs $45 when completed by a worker paid $30 per hour. One occurrence has little impact, but repeated tasks accumulate significant expenses. By automating this process, you can cut these specific manual costs. But it’s important to note that while the automation reduces the need for manual labor in this task, the real value comes from reallocating those saved resources to more strategic activities that drive business growth. This means the cost savings aren’t about reducing expenses—they’re about investing in the future of your business.

When to Automate: Finding the Right Time

As a process runs more often, the case for automation grows. Monthly completion of the example process translates to a $540 annual expense. If the process occurs weekly, it costs $2,340 per year. Performing the process daily increases the annual cost to $11,700. And, if the process occurs three times a day, the annual cost jumps to $35,100. Automating a process with a high annual cost will save the business a lot of money.

The decision to automate varies based on your business’s unique situation. Your threshold for pain—how much inefficiency or cost you’re willing to tolerate—plays a role. So do other impacts that the process might have on your operations. It’s about finding the right balance for your specific needs.

Why Automation is a Smart Investment

Automating a costly manual process is a smart investment. The savings generated can often cover the cost of automation, making it a practical decision that frees up resources for other important areas of your business.

• Cost Savings: High manual costs signal an opportunity for significant savings. Process automation yields swift returns, injecting profits into your bottom line. Additionally, as labor costs continue to rise each year, automation provides a stable, long-term solution by keeping these costs under control and reducing your dependency on manual labor.

• Efficiency Gains: Automation eliminates the repetitive, time-consuming tasks that slow your business down. This allows your team to focus on higher-value activities that drive growth.

• Consistency and Accuracy: Automated processes reduce errors and ensure consistent results, improving the quality of your operations and enhancing customer satisfaction.

• 24/7 Operation: You can trigger fully automated processes at any time—24 hours a day, 7 days a week. This constant availability means your business can operate around the clock, increasing productivity and potentially generating more revenue without the need for more staff.

• Scalability: As your business grows, automated processes can scale effortlessly, handling increased workloads without the need to add more staff.

• Competitive Advantage: Businesses that embrace automation can operate more efficiently and effectively, gaining an edge over competitors who rely on manual processes.

Remember, our example process is one process. There could be several other processes in your business that are good candidates for full or partial automation. By identifying and automating these processes, the cumulative savings can be even greater. These benefits boost your business’s bottom line.

Automation Empowers Your Team

Automation doesn’t replace people—it enhances their ability to contribute in other, more valuable ways. You can reinvest the savings from automation into your business, enabling your team to tackle new challenges and drive growth. Most businesses always have more work to do, and automating repetitive tasks gives your team time to focus on higher-level responsibilities that drive growth. Even with partial or hybrid automation, your employees can achieve more, improving productivity and job satisfaction.

In growing companies, business expansion can make teams more efficient with automation. Automation enables teams to manage increased workloads, reducing staffing needs.

Understanding and Defining Processes for Automation

Before automating a process, it’s important to ensure that it is well-defined and mature. To achieve the desired outcome, a well-defined process outlines all the necessary steps and the conditions for executing each step.

Here’s how you can prepare a process for automation:

• Document the Steps: Start by documenting each step of the process, noting the tools, software, and data sources involved. This creates a clear blueprint for automation.

• Identify the Conditions: Understand the conditions that might cause the process to vary. For example, which condition might skip step 3 or halt the process and activate a different process? Knowing these rules is key to effective automation.

• Review for Clarity and Maturity: Once you document the process, review it with those who perform it regularly to confirm that all steps and conditions are clear. Make sure to test the process and ensure it works efficiently in its manual form. This step helps identify any nuances or exceptions, which increases the chances of a successful automation.

By following these best practices, you can ensure that your processes are ready for automation, whether they need full or partial solutions. Standardized processes replicate accurately in automated systems, producing optimal outcomes consistently.

Types of Automation: Full, Partial, and Hybrid

When considering automation, it’s important to understand the different levels of automation available:

1. Full Automation: This type of automation runs entirely without human intervention. Once set up, the process executes automatically, allowing your team to focus on other tasks.

2. Partial Automation: In this scenario, automation does not complete the full process. assists a person but still requires human interaction. This is useful for processes where decision-making or manual input is still necessary at certain stages.

3. Hybrid Automation: A combination of both, hybrid automation allows for flexibility. Certain steps might be fully automated, while others need human oversight or intervention.

Understanding these different types of automation can help you decide which approach is best for your business, based on the specific processes you’re looking to improve.

The Value of Regular Process Reviews and Flexible Automation

Regularly reviewing your business processes can pay off in huge ways. As your business evolves, so do your processes, and what might not have been a candidate for automation last year could be ripe for it now. By keeping a close eye on your processes and reassessing them regularly, you can continually uncover opportunities for automation, driving ongoing efficiency improvements and maximizing your return on investment.

Once your automation is in place, it’s important to remember that it can be flexible enough to meet changing demands as your business grows. A fully automated process will likely continue to support your growth without requiring changes. As business expands, team augmentation becomes necessary with partial automation. Automation adapts to your changing business, maintaining efficiency as you grow.

Minimizing Disruption During Automation

When implementing automation, it’s crucial to ensure that new solutions integrate smoothly with existing systems. This minimizes disruption to your business operations and allows for a more seamless transition. Automation integrates existing procedures, blending seamlessly with current systems. This approach helps maintain continuity and reduces the risk associated with adopting new technologies.

Bringing It All Together

Automation brings cost benefits and enables businesses to streamline operations, scale without disruptions, and ensure precise process management.

By understanding the costs of manual work and the benefits of automation, you can free your team. They can focus on what matters—tasks that need human insight and creativity. Automation is not a one-time fix—it’s an ongoing strategy that grows with your business.

Invested cost savings from automation empower your company to achieve more. Current resources yield more, reducing hiring needs and driving growth.

Getting Started

Ready to take the next step? Start by identifying which processes in your business are good candidates for automation. Here are the key questions to ask:

• How long does it take to complete a task?

• What’s the hourly rate for the worker performing it?

• How often is this task completed—daily, weekly, or monthly?

• What percentage of this process can be automated?

Answering these questions will help you understand where automation can provide the most value. The math is simple and straightforward to arrive at an annual cost for each process you check. To make this process easier, we created an Excel spreadsheet for you.

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