Why Automation Makes Businesses Attractive To Buyers

In this article, we’ll be taking a look at exactly what automation is, and why buyers love it so much. 

We all know that price matters when it comes to selling a business. The price has to be right for you, and it also has to be right for the buyer.

And yet, if you’re struggling to make your business more saleable (and therefore more appealing) to buyers, it could be because you haven’t automated it yet. 

Automation makes businesses more attractive to buyers, while at the same time ramping up their value. You’ll make more money in the sale, and you’ll also sell it quicker. It’s a win-win. 

Automation Explained 

Put simply, automation is the use of technology to create systems that work seamlessly by themselves without the need for direct involvement from the owner (you). Manual effort is decreased while efficiency is increased. 

In other words, when a business is automated it can function without you. It doesn’t need you specifically but will function just as well regardless of whether you’re there or not. 

For example, let’s take a look at the hiring process. Normally, the hiring process is a drain on a businesses resources because it takes up so much time – and yet can often result in the wrong hire, which takes up even more time and money. It’s a costly venture.

You can automate the hiring process with automated tools. And when you do, these tools are able to read through applications faster than you ever could, while crunching data, finding keywords and thus identifying the best possible candidates.

Automated tools can, in fact, zip through thousands of applications and present you with a candidate that you possibly might have missed. 

And the best thing is, it didn’t need your help. All you had to do was sit down and interview the candidate. 

Automated tools can also provide help desk support to your employees in the form of chatbots, speed up your meetings, improve your internal-external communications, and they can also streamline your whole inventory with inventory management software automation so that you’re able to make better forecasts and meet demand.

All in all, automation helps a business with tasks that are:

• High volume
• Require numerous people 
• Time-sensitive 

Benefits of Automation

Before you sell your business, automation will in the meantime benefit you in multiple ways. Here are some: 

You’ll Save Money On Labour Costs 

There are lots of niggling tasks out there that drain so much time, and which could actually be automated. Automation boosts your budget by allowing you to delegate tasks better so that your actual human workforce only works on tasks that bring value to the business. 

Your Business Will Adapt To Market Demand Better

As order volume and customer demand shoots, you’ll need to train new employees so that they can process orders, manage inventory etc. 

Wouldn’t it be a lot easier if you could automate the process so that, whenever there’s an unexpected spike in demand, you’re able to control costs better while ensuring customers get their orders on time? 

Less Human Errors

Human errors happen – it’s part and parcel of being a human!

But for businesses, human errors can be very costly. And when you can automate aspects of your business, it seems pointless to run the risk of your employees making mistakes. 

Automation removes human error by boosting accuracy when it comes to things like bookkeeping, invoicing and even inventory management. With fewer errors, your business will see an improvement in profit – and valuation.

Better Customer Experience 

Because automation allows you to standardise the likes of post-sales support, shipment, order processing and marketing, your business is then able to produce a consistent customer experience right across all your channels. This will ensure customer expectations are met and trust is built. Subsequently, sales will improve. 

Sounds Great. But Why Does Automation Make a Business More Attractive? 

There are two main reasons why automation makes a business more attractive to buyers. 

Firstly, automation increases the value of your business.

Secondly, automation reduces the level of owner involvement. 

What does this mean? 

The more involved the founder is in their own business, the less attractive the business becomes to potential buyers. This is because they’re not looking for a full-time job. If your business isn’t automated, there’s every chance you’ll be working on it for 20 or even 30 or 40+ hours a week. This is very involving and very demanding – and it puts potential buyers off. 

Instead, businesses that are fully automated, and which only require their owner to work on them for a handful of hours per week, have higher multiples. And while it might be nice to see owners with work ethic sweating blood and tears on their business each week, this sort of thing doesn’t add any value to their business. In fact, it removes it.

As such, it’s highly recommended that you as a business owner reduce your level of involvement. You can do this by automating tasks, such as inventory processing. 

Which Tasks Should Be Automated? 

Businesses can automate a number of tasks to boost efficiency, the value of their business and its saleability.

Here are some tasks that can be automated:

• Social media marketing campaigns 
• Website traffic 
• Customer support, including responding to emails and installing chatbots that are available 24/7 to answer customer queries 
• Invoice reminders, payroll and receipts can all be automated using tools 
• Hiring process 
• Inventory management 

Conclusion

Business automation is not just something you should consider – it’s something you should be looking to implement as soon as you can. It will improve productivity and efficiency right across the board, making your business more appealing to buyers. 

The good news is that there are tools to help with every single aspect of business automation. The next step is to figure out the processes you want to automate, and then work with the right tools that will help you get results. 

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