Efficiency tools that can save you money?

Technology, efficiency and automation are starting to become the first thoughts on Leaders’ minds.

Why? Very simply, this will stop companies from ‘leaking’ valuable net profits.

“If you would be wealthy, think of saving as well as getting.” – Benjamin Franklin

When we are reviewing our quarter and analysing our staff’s stats, we are normally doing this to make more money.

“Next quarter we will bring on x more business that will bring us x more EBITDA.”

Recognised this chat?

How many times do we focus on efficiency savings?

“This quarter we are going to analyse the operational inefficiencies and time being wasted, improve them and automate them to save us money on our EBITDA.”

It is probably less likely to recognise that conversation, correct?

If that is the case I hope below tech hacks/products that I swear by which could help you do just this.

Slack

A communication tool that has channel functions to ensure no one misses out on information.

Internal email is my pet hate - horrible in many ways, inbox full, scrolling to find the right email, no segmentation; I’ll stop there.

Slack’s beauty is its simplicity, beautiful design, and UI (User Interface) that allows office to office communication.

Imagine how much more money you would make and not lose if you have frictionless internal communications.

Slack, for me, brings this.

(free to trial and use for small businesses)

Trello

Project/task planner that allows you to be accountable for your actions. Like most of CEOs and MDs, I am reliant on my team to deliver me information to put on business plans, tenders, project road maps etc.

Welcome Trello.

Like all great technologies, its beauty is in the simplicity.

Trello’s usability is simply fantastic. I try to judge my own platform with a self-made test called the ‘7-year-old test’.

The test is simple: Could a 7-year-old with no training use the platform from start to finish?

If the answer is Yes, go live. If it is No, re-design and back to staging. 

Trello is definitely a yes.

(free to trial and use for small businesses)

Asana

Asana has been managing my ‘to do’ list for many years. It overlaps slightly with Trello, but for me it has been instrumental in the early days of all my businesses.

Accountability for tasks, project planning, and a broad suite of features that brings productivity and shared accountability together.

(free to trial and use for small businesses)

Side Asana hack:

For anyone who is just starting up or running a project, Asana is a great starting point for a CRM or Credit Control process. Not designed for this but can work very well in the early days as your test your process for a viable product.