Automation Challenges for Small Enterprises
"Investing in small businesses means investing in the future of communities and economic growth."
Automation can streamline operations, reduce costs, boost productivity, and increase sales. Yet small enterprises face unique hurdles compared to larger organizations. They often serve the ālong tailā of global demandāabout 70% of all SKUsāand remain largely un-automated.
Their problems start with custom orders, as they trade in unique SKUs. While orders arrive through multiple channels (email, chat, phone), they consume valuable resources just to provide updates and statuses. Order management is also crucial for downstream automation, extending into accounting, production, purchasing, transportation, logistics, warehousing, inventory management, people management, payroll, and field operations. Comprehensive end-to-end automation is essential, but smaller businesses often rely on manual processes, spreadsheets, and continuous communication to stay afloat.
Alongside daily challenges, smaller enterprises face stiff competition and must evolve faster than large corporations. Time and resources for automation are scarce. Neome is designed to address these pain points, helping small businesses flourish and expand. Letās examine their primary obstacles and discover how Neome alleviates them.
Automation challenges
1. GTM Deadzone
Small businesses have tight budgets and niche needs, making it difficult to reach them at scale with one-size-fits-all solutions.
Neome solution
- Reached through a global fleet of community developers to help automate the enterprise.
- Since community developers are responsible for success and support of automation workflows, incentives of community, customer, and Neome are aligned.
- Provide an extensive template library as a quick starting point for any workflow.
- Encourage community developers to publish these workflows for global use.
- Globally, Neome aspires to create a pool of 10M community developers.
- Community developers don't have to be locale or domain-specific; they can support automation workflows from anywhere.
- Small businesses also can be reached through industry specific magazines and social networks.
2. Online shops
Custom online shops are often the initial step in automation. However, many small enterprises struggle to set these up effectively, hindering further adoption of comprehensive automation.
Neome solution
- Neome offers multiple ways to launch custom online shops where orders can be tracked throughout their entire lifecycle.
- By increasing sales and reducing friction through online stores, enterprises become more inclined toward end-to-end automation.
3. Tailor made automation
Small enterprises frequently adapt their offerings and processes to stay competitive. Standard SaaS solutions may not keep pace, so they resort to Excel files and ledgers for daily operations ā blocking more robust automation.
Neome solution
- Building in Neome is as straightforward as making a spreadsheet.
- Neome plans to make app creation conversational.
- If DIY does not work, a community developer is available.
- With a large template and plugin library, practically every use case is covered.
4. Limited Budget
High software or hardware costs can be daunting when budgets are tight. Ongoing fees for upgrades and maintenance only add to the financial burden.
Neome solution
- Small enterprises typically have 10 to 50 employees. They should think of Neome as one more automation employee, paired with a monthly salary. The question then is: what is the ROI on one extra automation employee if 50 other employees become 20% more productive?
- Neome does not charge unless real value is delivered.
- Neomeās costs are akin to mobile phone subscription expenses, making it a no-brainer for smaller enterprises.
5. Lack of In-House Expertise
Few small enterprises have specialized IT teams or staff to manage automation. Employees multitask and often face steep learning curves that slow adoption.
Neome solution
- Neome is designed to be managed by an "Admin" role, who can control the entire enterprise.
- The vocabulary used by Neome matches the enterpriseās own, so they don't have to learn or translate between different software terms.
- Community developers are just a call away and are well-trained in configuration and modifications.
6. Integrating with Paper based Systems
Paper-based processes donāt align well with modern automation tools, causing data silos and time-consuming, manual workflows.
Neome solution
- Neome produces PDF output for paper-based workflows.
- Neome is investing in an OCR stack and will make it available to small enterprises at scale.
- Neome Cloud can utilize LAN printers and scanners through Neome agents.
7. Integrating with Accounting Systems
To stay compliant, many small enterprises use accounting software like QuickBooks or Tally. Yet regularly updating these systems remain a significant challenge.
Neome solution
- Most accounting systems allow Excel uploads and downloads. Neome taps into that using Neome Agents, which exchange data between accounting systems (or any other system) in real time.
- Neome includes pre-built plugins for Tally and QuickBooks.
8. Fear of Disruption
For small enterprises, downtime and disruption can be catastrophic. They fear automation may disturb daily operations or break existing processes.
Neome solution
- In consultation with customers, Neome community developers break the entire automation project into manageable segments for immediate validation and refinement, preventing substantial downtime or disruption.
- Many critical operations in Neome can run offline, removing the need for continuous internet or electrical power.
9. Rapidly Changing Technology
Technology evolves quickly, and small businesses worry about obsolescence. Keeping pace with trends and upgrading systems without overspending is a constant struggle.
Technology evolves quickly, and small businesses worry about their investments becoming obsolete. Keeping up with emerging trends and updating systems without overspending is a constant challenge.
Neome solution
- Neome is a global platform serving multiple customers simultaneously. Staying current with emerging technology, adding features, and updating core capabilities without disruption is a core reason for choosing Neome.
- Neome offers workflows, plugins, analytics, global reach, AI, and NLP without small businesses having to manage the underlying complexities.
Neome Breakthrough
Despite budget constraints, skill gaps, and complicated integrations, incremental automation can help small enterprises remain competitive. Neome tackles these hurdles by delivering flexible solutions tailored to ever-changing needs. With Neome, even the smallest businesses can automate with confidence, succeed in dynamic markets, and focus on what they do best.
