There are demonstrable links between a company’s efficiency, its productivity and its level of market competitiveness. The more efficient a company’s business practices and workflows are, the more competitive its product offerings tend to be. Therefore, efficiency is an important business goal to strive for.

Wondering how to make your business more efficient? The following 4 ideas will get you started:

1. Automate Sensibly

There are tasks that humans should always do, like dealing with angry customers. Then there are tasks that can safely be automated, like delegating the answering of frequently asked questions to an online chatbot.

In cases where it makes sense to automate, the automation can increase efficiency substantially.

Of course, you’re better off resisting the urge to automate things that are best handled by humans. A diplomatic customer service rep can smooth over a situation with an angry customer, whereas having to deal with an automated system will likely only enrage that customer further. So be cautious with implementing automation, and only do it in cases where the real and tangible benefits outweigh the possible downsides.

2. Streamline Your Bookkeeping and Account Management Process

Many businesses waste colossal amounts of time on routine tasks like collecting and filing receipts, not to mention looking for lost receipts. This can be avoided if you make all your company’s purchases using a business credit card that provides detailed records and consolidated receipts.

If your business maintains a fleet of vehicles, it can be particularly beneficial to use a fuel card that provides this service. Some fuel cards even provide integration with accounting software such as Xero that provides with MTD for VAT and another one which is MYOB, which can lead to dramatically improved efficiency in the accounting department.

If this option is of interest to you, you’d be likely to benefit from using the services provided by the Fuelcard Report website. This site will assist you with researching the fuel cards that are currently on offer so you can find the most suitable option for your specific needs.

2. Identify and Eliminate Waste

Toyota is famous for manufacturing top quality cars, and even more famous for its lean manufacturing procedures. Waste elimination is one thing Toyota really excels at. They’ve set an outstanding example for other businesses to follow.

Even if your business doesn’t manufacture anything, this idea of waste elimination is crucial when it comes to maximising efficiency. There are multiple places waste can creep in: wasting time and wasting material resources are two of the most common.

There’s another sneaky sort of waste that affects many businesses: motion waste. If your printer is located in a spot where you have to walk to it to retrieve a printout, and you need to print out dozens of pages each week, that’s an example of motion waste. You’d maximise efficiency by moving the printer closer to your seat so you don’t have to waste motion when you collect your printouts.

This might seem like a minute detail, but eliminating small amounts of wasted effort can add up to large increases in efficiency over time.

Make an effort to look for instances of motion waste in your business. Resolving it typically involves improving the layout of the workspace and possibly upgrading to ergonomic tools and furnishings.

4. Make Continual, Small Improvements in Your Company’s Procedures

Your company’s procedures may be working well, but there is an excellent chance that they could be improved upon. If you make an effort to incorporate small, gradual, continual improvements to your workflows, noticeable improvements to productivity will be a likely result.

These are not the only ways to increase efficiency for your business. However, taking these 4 steps could potentially help you to make significant improvements that will not only increase your company’s efficiency but also its profitability. If you keep in mind the reality that there is always room for improvement, you’re certain to discover many other small changes that could be implemented to make your workdays more efficient and productive.