Why Women Need to Use Automation in Their Business
The world is at a stage where female entrepreneurship nearly rivals its male counterpart. A report released by American Express in 2018 revealed that 38% of enterprises in the U.S. belonged to women.
More women are getting into business globally, with diverse skills specialization cutting across numerous industries. Without a doubt, over half of the world's population comprises women. Therefore, there is a huge potential for increased job creation and economic transformation.
Automation has hit the world like a bug, with technology being a game-changer. E-commerce is another aspect that changed the business playing field. According to research by McKinsey Global Institute, in the next decade, automation will displace men and women equally. However, women must work harder than men to transition.
Why are female entrepreneurs hesitant to scale their business with automation?
Despite women entrepreneurs representing a third of business owners globally, the business ecosystem poses many challenges. Understanding the disparities that make women hesitant is crucial. They are numerous but mainly revolve around these three:
1. Shortfalls in capital
No matter the size, running a business requires you to have sufficient capital. Sadly, despite women proving their capability, individuals and institutions are hesitant to lend a helping hand. Banks view women as credit risk or uncreditworthy with a false belief that female entrepreneurs give up easily. As a result, many women utilize their savings or seek assistance from family.
When I launched my business full-time, I actually had negative capital. I had no savings and I could not call on the Bank of Mom and Dad. It was just the Bank of Sydney and the Bank of Sydney was in the red. I had debt and bills. I wanted to reach hundreds of students with educational consulting but I felt like I was so far behind where I needed to be to actually launch a successful business.
What I found out is that technology and automation are not as expensive as we may think. By taking advantage of monthly payment plans for software in the tun of $5-20/month I was able to make little changes in my business that had a huge impact. No matter where you are in business, there are ways that you can leverage the capital you have right now (yes, no matter how small) to use automation to uplevel your business.
2. Little to no support
Young women who establish and run businesses face a mentorship and guidance challenge. They have no one to show them how enterprises operate. Besides, society stereotypes women in many ways. When a woman courageously transcends these biases and establishes an enterprise, it takes time for them to gain public trust.
I really believe in the power of mentorship and finding good guidance. One of the best decisions I made was to hire a business coach. In fact, I hired two! Melissa Kellogg Lueck and XayLi Barclay have been my rock. Finding strong women who could guide me as a woman through the transitions and the mindset and emotional work needed to be a #womanboss was essential. Beyond coaching though, I have also found that there is a lack of guidance when it comes to women getting financial and investing advice as well. I was fortunate enough to be connected to a mentor in venture capital and investing right when I needed to make important decisions in my business to take us to the next level.
If you’re interested in automation and business scaling, it is important that you surround yourself with women who are going to support you and not tell you that you don’t need to be as big as your heart desires, and it is important that you get good coaching. I made a decision that I was dedicating my business to God and expanding the Kingdom. God gave me some really big visions so I needed to get coaches who believed and pushed me to believe that I could accomplish some really big things. If you’re interested in aligning your career goals with your big visions, don’t hesitate to contact me.
3. Low esteem
Skilled female entrepreneurs struggle to affirm their place in the commercial world. Some underestimate their ability. However, they come round, regain confidence, and prosper through support from peers and other networks. Imposter syndrome is definitely real. Even with the background, skills, degrees, and proven track record, I still had to tackle my own imposter syndrome. What if I’m not as good at my job as I say I am? What if people work with me and realize I don’t really know what I’m talking about? What if they ask me a question and I don’t know the answer? All of these are limiting thoughts that aren’t serving you. You might not know all of the answers, but that’s an unrealistic expectation. You are better at your job than you think you are. And sometimes, people are okay and happy to have people figure out the answers with them. You can scale your business and you can be as big as you want to be.
Sometimes we shy away from technology because we as women have internalized that this isn’t our “thing.” That it’s too hard or complicated. I was an English major. I will frequently joke around to my friends that I am allergic to science. But being afraid of STEM and therefore not taking a Zapier Webinar or going to ZapConnect conference or reading an audiobook only hurts me and my business. You are smart and capable of learning. This is not something you cannot conquer. It may take time, but it will be worth it.
Automation is a path you must pursue
Through automation, you simplify work and focus your strengths on priority areas. More than that, when you have an automated workflow, customer satisfaction improves, and your revenues increase. Perhaps it is high time you considered business process automation.
Business Process Automation (BPA) refers to leveraging technology in executing repeated tasks. Through automation, you will achieve three things:
Streamlined processes
Increased efficiency
Reduced costs
How will automation help you?
If you reflect on how your business runs, some areas give you a headache. They make you wish you could do something about it, only that you cannot tell what. Take an example of the billing process.
A customer purchases a package for services over the phone or maybe through email. You then manually go and type out the contract or fill in their information on a word document. You send it through email, or worse yet, you put it in the mail. They download the word document. Maybe they have to print it out. Maybe they’re signing the hard copy you mailed them. They mail you back a check or call you to give you their credit card number on the phone. You then have to process that and also counter-sign the contract you sent them over email or snail mail. You go to the bank and deposit the check.
Do you see all the time wasted? What if you had a system that allowed them to make a purchase, pay, and sign the contract, all with just a few clicks? What if the money instantly showed up in your bank account and all you had to do was click one button to countersign the contract?
Automation standardizes processes in a manner that yields consistent outcomes. Looking back at the above example, people view your entity as reliable when you nail product or service delivery. Eventually, you create a solid customer base.
If you continue operating along a trajectory of remaining frozen in the old ways, you will lose customers. Satisfying your clients is everything, and by automating processes that meet and exceed their expectations, you succeed.
In closing
No business can hack it without leveraging automation and technology in the modern age. As a woman in business, you need to cast your fears aside and walk the transformational path. Ignore the stereotypes and take charge of your God-given ability.
If you are wondering where to start the automation journey and other scaling methods, work with me. There are many tough decisions to make as an entrepreneur, making the decision to embrace automation shouldn’t be one of them. Contact me today to help or download my free guide to the first step of automation: writing down your customer journey!