We recently conducted a survey of business owners, employees and entrepreneurs to get a better understanding of their attitudes and plans regarding automation. We were delighted to find that the vast majority of respondents are keen to automate parts of their businesses – they understand the freedom and potential opportunities that automation can provide. In this blog post, we’ll explore some of the key findings from our survey, and examine why business owners are so keen on automation. Stay tuned for more insights!
Who completed our business process automation survey?
Since we launched the survey in April, we’ve been delighted to receive so many responses, and fascinated by some of the answers given. The majority of our survey respondents are business owners but we’ve also had submissions from employees and freelancers.
Businesses have ranged in size from one-man bands to organisations with over 50 staff, with some based in the US and Canada, and others in the UK and Europe.
Some of our respondents do ‘all the things’, like many business owners do, juggling sales, marketing, operations, finance and administration. Others are based in finance, administration, operations sales, marketing and technical departments.
Some of the challenges they face include having too much work that only they can do, and needing more team members to lighten the load. We know that so many other businesses experience these issues, particularly when starting out.
How many businesses use business process automation?
We were delighted that a huge 88% of people know about business process automation. It means the word is getting out about how effective it can be to streamline workflows and it’s the first step to working smarter, not harder. However, only 53% of respondents actually use automation in their business.
For those that don’t use it there are a variety of reasons why, although one stood out as a major blocker – business owners are simply too busy keeping their heads above water to consider automation.
Other reasons include:
- They think it will be time consuming.
- They’re not sure of the benefits of BPA.
- They think automation will be expensive.
- They work in a large organisation and don’t think it would work there.
- Zapier doesn’t integrate with the proprietary software tools they use.
Are these valid concerns for not using business process automation?
It’s understandable that business owners are cautious about taking time out to improve their processes and adopt automation. Time is precious, but we know that refining your processes and setting up automations will reap dividends – not just in the long term but IMMEDIATELY!
You can read more about why think it’s worth investing in automation. We have written about automation myths in this article, one of which is the thought that it might be too expensive to implement. We also cover some of the many benefits of automation in this post.
What’s astonishing is that Zapier now connects over 6,000 apps and software systems, and it has options for those which don’t. Custom workflow steps can also be created using webhooks and code such as JavaScript and Python. These are more advanced ways of using Zapier but it proves that a small upfront investment can build something which works for your particular business.
You can find out more about how Zapier works here, and you definitely don’t need to be a developer to connect your apps using their pre-built integrations.
Which automation tools and software do our respondents use?
Of the businesses which use no-code automation tools, nearly 73% use Zapier, and the others use Microsoft Power Automate. We are also fans of Zapier here at Solvaa, so it’s great that our community is using it too.
59% of our respondents use the Microsoft Office suite which includes Word, Excel and Outlook. 35% use Google apps such as Gmail, Google Sheets and Google Docs, and only 6% use Apple products. What’s useful to know is that both Microsoft and Google apps can be connected using Zapier.
Which business areas do they automate?
The businesses who responded to our survey automate a wide range of departmental functions.
They include:
- Sales
- Finance
- Administration
- Technical
- Operations
- Marketing
This data is borne out in the recent Workato report which concludes that 66% of organisations now have 5 or more departments using automation and the number of organisations with 7 departments automating has nearly tripled since 2019.
It proves what a massive impact business process automation can have across the whole business and we have written blogs specifically to explain how automation can help Operations and Marketing Teams. Watch out for more of these guides as they are invaluable for giving businesses plenty of ideas about what kinds of tasks are perfect for automation. We also cover how Sales Teams can really maximise efficiency and win more business using a CRM in this post.
How do businesses want to learn more about automation?
By far the most popular way that businesses want to learn more is by using education resources such as webinars and workshops.
We agree that training is really useful for learning more about automation. Luckily Solvaa can help, as we have a wide range of free resources that will get you started.
Firstly, there’s our YouTube channel which has a range of short videos and webinars that demonstrate how you can automate some popular business functions.
Another recent video in YouTube is a webinar that explains how to streamline business operations using automation. It includes answers to all your burning questions including what the benefits of BPA are and what are the best practices for implementing automation.
Our free Introduction To Zapier e-book explains the benefits of business process automation, how Zapier fits in and examples of automations for each department within your business.
And we also have a free cheat sheet with a checklist of Zapier’s inbuilt function which can supercharge your automations.
Our founder and chief automator Kelly Goss’ book, Automate It with Zapier
Kelly’s book, Automate It with Zapier, is available on Amazon. It includes some ready-made templates for various examples so you can get started really quickly.
The book is perfect for new Zapier users as well as seasoned pros. Here are links to Amazon (.co.uk) and Amazon(.com) to get yours now.
Solvaa: Strategy, Solutions, Support, Education
UK-based Solvaa® is a systems, process and automation consultancy specialising in improving business workflows. Solvaa® works with SMEs worldwide to implement digital tools, better processes, use business process automation and generative AI to boost productivity, enhance lead management, and remove unnecessary time, costs and hassles from stretched business owners’ days.
We help you simplify and streamline existing processes, integrate your business tools to make data transfer more efficient, and automate manual tasks. Our business process automation specialists have extensive experience using multiple cloud-based business tools, including Zapier, Pipedrive CRM, SmartSuite, Xero, Google Suite, ClickUp, Asana, Airtable, Hubspot, Active Campaign, Salesforce, Mailchimp, Quickbooks and many more. We are Zapier Certified Experts, SmartSuite Certified Partners, Pipedrive Certified Partners and Xero Certified Advisors. We also educate teams about using AI in their daily roles, mindset, governance and strategy in our Solvaa AI Academy.
Solvaa® was founded in 2016 by Kelly Goss, a no-code solutions architect, business process automation specialist and author of Automate It with Zapier (first edition) and Automate It with Zapier and Generative AI (second edition).
A thought leader on business process automation and digital adoption, Kelly attended an invite-only Roundtable on Artificial Intelligence (AI) with the UK government at No.10 Downing Street, providing insights and recommendations on how SMEs can benefit from productivity gains by using digital technologies, automation and AI. She has also been invited to speak at the House of Lords and at many other events.
Contact us today to find out how Solvaa can help your business make big savings on operational costs and time, and significantly increase productivity.
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