5 Simple Ways to Make Your Business More Efficient

There's nothing more frustrating in business than waste. The opportunity cost of your workforce devoting hours to unproductive tasks is something you can't ignore.

So, to help you reduce waste and improve productivity, here are 5 simple ways to help make your business more efficient.

1. Get Software to Manage Your Deliveries

Getting your product delivered to your client is the most important part of your business, but if you don't manage your delivery system carefully, it can also be the most expensive.

Installing job scheduling software allows you to ensure your delivery operations are as efficient as possible. This involves things like planning the fastest delivery routes and grouping orders together.

2. Use Data to Achieve More Targeted Advertising

It wasn't long ago that businesses would devote loads of cash to marketing and advertising. These came in the forms of grand overseas business trips or large conferences.

These days, in a climate of improved technology and increased competition, businesses have to be much more specific to ensure tangible results. The best way to do this is through data.

For example, analytics dashboards allow you to dig into the data on your social media engagement, so you can make sure the people you're reaching online are the demographics most likely to be engaged with your product.

3. Scope Out Opportunities for Automation

With each year that passes, a growing number of repetitive tasks that once required manual labor can now be automated. This ranges from inventory management in a warehouse to delivery packing and preparation.

Once you commit the initial investment costs, the running costs of automated elements of your business are next to nothing. What's more, you can then redeploy your existing workforce to work on more productive areas to help grow the business.

4. Find Software Solutions for Your HR Function

Some of the most time-consuming tasks in your business day-to-day operations are those completed by the Human Resources function, such as arranging payroll distributions, completing tax forms and scoping candidates for new job openings.

Thankfully, new technologies provide ways to significantly reduce the time some of these monotonous tasks take up, making significant cost savings for your business. Data for tax forms can be inputted into software which automatically populates the forms, while data on job candidates can be automatically processed and ranked to meet your company's needs.

Your HR employees will be delighted to have been relieved of these burdensome tasks, freeing up more time for them to seek out the best new talent to help grow your business.

5. Embrace Flexible Working

Recently, many employees found themselves having to work from home for the first time.

While navigating new ways to work outside the office may have proved challenging at first, some businesses have in fact found that working from home can be just as productive, if not more productive, than working at the office.

What's more, with fewer people working in the office, your business can spend lower rents on smaller office space. This paired with lowered energy bills is a considerable cost saving.

Flexible working also allows you to attract the widest possible talent, as people with outside commitments such as childcare or part-time education, continue to be able to work for your business without difficulty.

An Efficient Business is a Successful Business

By itself, reducing costs won't make your business any more successful. However, in a climate of increased global competition, these small savings could make the difference between whether you can compete on price against other market leaders. Therefore, these small changes can make a big difference.