As a business owner, you are well aware of how precious a commodity time is.  With so much to be done, it is vital to streamline all processes to overcome unnecessary time sinks. The easiest way to achieve this? Let technology lend you a helping hand.

Here’s how you can use tech to optimize and perform large and vital operations, leaving you free to focus on other areas of your business or simply allow you to rest easier at the end of the day.

1. Automate your invoicing

Manual invoicing is one of the most time-consuming undertakings you’ll encounter as a business owner. Using software to automate your invoices will accomplish a handful of time-saving tasks that are associated with the entire invoicing process.

Firstly, gathering the data to make an accurately tallied invoice is a laborious practice. Auto-invoicing software can harvest comments to compile an itemized invoice that is perfectly calculated, so neither you or your customer have to eat incorrect costs.

Secondly, because of the accuracy that automated invoices provide, you’ll never have to spend countless hours trying to fix the mess of human error. You can also skip consoling disgruntled customers when they received an incorrect tally on their invoices since that will no longer be an issue.

Furthermore, auto-invoicing substantially decreases cart abandonment rates. Instead of wasting your time chasing payments, you can rely on software to instill a sense of urgency in customers with instantaneous invoicing. Timely invoices lead to timely payments.

Cart expirations are a feature that can further decrease cart abandonment. If the claimed items are not paid for after a certain period, they can go to the next person that’s willing to pay. The software maintains these waitlists, so no time is squandered convincing customers to pay or cross-checking databases to see who is next in line for the product.

2. Streamline inventory management

The many hassles of manual inventory management can also be eliminated with the help of software. Imagine the time you could save if you didn’t have to conduct regular inventory counts, look for lost inventory, sync multiple databases to ensure proper fulfillment and waitlist maintenance, and nullify the inevitable human error that comes with it.

Inventory management software will provide an accurate picture of what inventory is coming in and what is going out with real-time data. Efficiency is lost without an understanding of inventory volume, where that inventory is being sold (e.g., Facebook, Instagram, website, or app), where it is in every step of the intake and fulfillment, and what is being returned.

Software can generate bird's eye view of all this inventory information, which will assist in forecasting expected demand, helping you to recognize what sells well, what doesn’t, and make quick and informed inventory purchasing decisions based on that knowledge.

When new inventory is procured, you’ll need an to document where it physically resides in your workspace. Whether you are a large business with a warehouse or you are a small business selling out of your home, you will need to track item locations or risk going on a wild goose chase trying to find misplaced items. Technology makes this process easier and keeps this documentation all in one, orderly place visible to you and your staff.

3. Maximize efficiency with reporting

Analytic reporting can provide rich insights that help save time by taking the guesswork out of many operations across your business. On top of automating invoices and inventory management, your software will automatically be collecting and reporting on data picked up along the way.

Reports can help create financial snapshots that assist with auditing, preparing for taxes, and creating quarterly cash flow statements. Additionally, they can show you your highest and lowest selling products and detect profit margins on each item so you can understand your return on investment.

Customer’s buying habits are also invaluable information that can also be tracked and displayed through analytic reporting. How often they buy, what channels they buy from, what your target demographics are, and peak buying times are all valuable metrics to drive effective business strategy instead of wasting time, energy, and money advertising blindly.

4. Manage all extensions of your store in one place

Cross-checking databases is a huge time killer with an enormous risk of human error. It should be eliminated altogether with the help of technology. Reduce the time-consuming effort to manage multiple selling channels by choosing an all-in-one system to manage invoices, inventory, and to compile data analytics for each channel in one central hub.

With the right software, you'll be able to integrate each channel into a business dashboard where you can access all invoices, view all inventory, understand channel selling performance, see combined data analytics, and discover your most loyal shoppers across all channels.

The Takeaway

Every day we use technology to make our personal lives a little easier. Why not bring the benefits of it to your business? With the use of digital tools, you can optimize or altogether eliminate time-costly tasks that steal focus away from other areas of your business and personal life. Technology can help you save hours of inessential effort, especially when you use one that can do it seamlessly across multiple platforms.