The robotic process automation market is estimated to reach a global valuation of $5 Bn by 2022, confirms a Research and Market report. So, RPA is undoubtedly the future of all businesses, regardless of the industry, size, or operational model. To exhaustively cover the complete scope of automation as one of the most futuristic technologies, it is a must for the smaller organizations to embark on the journey of digital transformation, powered by RPA.
Whenever the world faces any global crisis like the financial downturn or pandemic, the smaller businesses are always the ones who get the most negatively impacted.
Hence, the businesses with a comparatively lower number of employees need to seek and adapt some novel strategy to match up with the change of trend, allowing them to rival with large enterprises. And, RPA for small businesses with limited operational setup and workforce might respond precisely to this need.
Automating as much as possible’ is one the most recommended and crucial factor for any extensible startup or small business. Automation is a must for small companies and startups to gain competitive advantage and fight the giants.
But, is automation feasible for these small businesses or startups with bootstrap funds?
The answer is – yes. In fact, RPA and automated systems can be implemented even more quickly and efficiently in smaller organizations rather than in larger firms. This is because smaller firms have fewer employees, which automatically implies less possibility of internal roadblocks and resistance to RPA. And, employee resistance to RPA remains the most relevant struggle for large enterprises trying to adopt automation. With automation striking in, operational responsibilities need not be divided across multiple departments, enhancing the efficiency and mitigating the chances of error.
Furthermore, in smaller organizations, the employees are comparatively more familiar with the business processes, therefore facilitating automation. Hence, there is a massive scope and great prospect for automation in startups.
[Read More: RPA for Banking and Financial Services]
Top reasons for small businesses to adopt RPA are:
- Improvised Business Operations
One of the most significant advantages of RPA is the capacity to report and manage data for simplified business processes. As machines and algorithms take over the daily mundane and repetitive tasks, the human workforce can spend time strategizing for improvised operations. With simplified data management, automation allows businesses to improve their overall workflow. The immediate consequence of this is witnessed in terms of the firm’s heightened efficiency. Also, such streamlined processes are inherently more productive, yielding maximum returns in the long run.
- Business Scalability
RPA enables smaller firms to flexibly adapt to all real-time business requirements, quickly delivering multiple tasks with minimum human intervention. Automation and RPA also help the small scale enterprises to accommodate diverse needs to complete specific objectives. Only a robotic workforce is easily adaptable and flexible to all task and time-specific project requirements.Looking at the larger picture, RPA empowers the smaller business to expertly cope with the changing market dynamics and the overall industry unpredictability. Smaller companies have more flexibility with the capacity to adapt to all changes and transform quickly. Hence, automation adoption is highly recommended for them.
- Lower Operational Costs
Small businesses have a limited number of employees, which is the most prominent justification considering the price of automation implementation. Automated systems are designed to meet specific business requirements, so they don’t require a recurring salary once set-up. Sometimes, it is quite likely that different business processes are owned from start-to-finish by a single employee, instead of being divided among multiple departments, unlike the larger enterprises. Consequently, process or workflow automation instead becomes unequivocal, getting done at a comparatively lower cost. In fact, RPA is like hiring a large team of grunt workers at the minimum cost.
- Improved Customer Satisfaction
Compared to the larger enterprises with a considerable number of employees, small companies struggle to meet customer requirements’ high variability. The ones, who have smartly automated their operation, are safe as the dull, repetitive, routine tasks are passed on to software bots. Such sharing of the workload with robots will allow those few employees to better focus on customer care and strategizing.As employees get free from all robotic tasks, the customer needs can be addressed by proficient, skilled workers capable of engaging in personal interaction. Moreover, automatically generated reports by bots can help comprehend customers’ needs and accommodate all peculiar demands seamlessly.
- Forms the Base for Digitization
RPA adoption forms the base to build other digital transformation projects for smaller companies. Concerning any new project implementation, RPA is highly beneficial as it has the power to connect disparate systems quickly. RPA smoothly keeps track of all legacy systems that need maintenance during a transition period, spanning across quarters or years. To put it more precisely, RPA strengthens small companies with a diverse functional equivalent of the global enterprises’ huge IT staff, at a comparatively lower cost.
[Read More: 6 Ways To Successfully Manage Remote IT Team]
- Enables Business Expansion
RPA shifts the responsibility of all dull and tedious tasks on robots’ shoulders, allowing the intellectual resources to invest more time in developing high-level business strategy, backed by stout decision making. This is hugely beneficial for businesses focusing on expanding themselves. For smaller firms, such engagement is intrinsic to their growth and success. This allows them to aim high even if they start small.Most importantly, by facilitating RPA, smaller businesses gain a more competitive advantage to fight the industry’s larger players, resulting in operations expansion and increased profitability.
Conclusion:
RPA is the life-saving drug that small businesses need now, helping them overcome all risks through streamlined, flexible, and automated processes. To add-on, automation is instrumental in reducing human error, increase compliance, and ensure business scalability to drive market influence. All in all, in this era of digital transformation, RPA is the much-needed tool for small businesses that will allow them to focus on fostering outreach and expansion within a healthy and competitive working environment.
Still confused or have more questions? Talk to our automation expert for small businesses.