It’s the very first thing they teach you in economics—everything has a cost. It’s the time you give up when you stay at work late, the convenience you forgo when you cook a healthy meal instead of ordering out, and the cost of gas avoided by biking instead of driving. The lesson is simple: when you make one choice over another, the price you pay is the opportunity you leave behind.
This article is not a lesson in economics, but instead a way for you to think about the choices you’re making at your organization, and a guide for how small businesses can make the smartest decisions for their bottom line.
Let’s take a quick step back. Forbes notes that the average entrepreneur spends 36% of their work week doing small, administrative tasks like invoicing, data entry, and other manual tasks. What does this mean for your business? Considering the principle above, by choosing manual tasks over automation, you’re giving up time, which could be better spent doing projects that set your business ahead.
So, the true cost of time spent on these tasks? The money you could earn by spending your time more wisely.
The obvious next question is—okay, but how can I actually reduce manual admin work? The answer is through automation.
To illustrate what this could look like in action, let’s take the example of how a golf simulator business can see increased profitability by making smarter operational decisions. Good news is, the same principles apply to all other industries as well.
Step 1: Track where your time goes
The first step to better operations, reduced manual admin work, and limiting costs for your golf simulator business is by understanding where most of your time is currently spent. Is your staff constantly responding to customer inquiries, manually handling bookings, or collecting signed waivers? Take the list below as a starting point to identify where you might be sinking a bit too much time:
- Following up with no-shows or last-minute cancellations
- Responding to customer inquiries about equipment and amenities
- Entering data from one platform to another
- Preparing space usage and transaction reports
The next time you sit down to start any of these tasks, time yourself. Once you know where the majority of your hours are being invested, you can identify which areas should be automated—helping you reduce manual admin work, and increase your golf simulator business’ profitability.
Step 2: Identify the best areas for automation
Now that you know which tasks take up the most time, you can decide which ones you want to automate—and which ones you don’t. A good rule of thumb: if technology can handle it, it’s probably something that can be automated.
For example, if you currently copy and paste data from your payment processor to your bookkeeping system, that’s something that can be automated. On the other hand, responsibilities like handling broken equipment on the spot is clearly one responsibility that requires a human touch.
By using automation to tackle manual work—like data entry, transaction reconciliation, and report preparation—you’ll no longer have to invest precious time into profitless tasks, as data is transferred from one platform to another for you. This will reduce manual admin work, limit labor costs, and ultimately, make your golf simulator business more profitable.
Step 3: Choose the right tools
The right tools will support integrations, because these are essential to creating automated workflows.
What are integrations?
Integrations connect one platform to another, allowing data to be exchanged automatically. To set them up, you’d usually use a middleware like Zapier to customize exactly what information is transferred over.
Here’s an example of what this could look like in action:
- Trigger: A booking is made in your booking software.
- Action: A waiver is automatically sent via email to the person who made the booking.
Think about just how much time, and money, this could save. After all, less admin work means lower labor costs, and higher profitability for your golf simulator business.
Important: only some software companies have integration functionality. Be sure to choose your platforms carefully.
Tools to consider (with automation examples):
- Accounting software: You can reduce manual admin work by transferring transaction data over to bookkeeping software, like QuickBooks or Xero automatically.
- E-signature software: You can save time by automatically sending waivers through e-signature platforms, like DocuSign or PandaDoc whenever someone makes a booking.
- Booking software: You can cut costs for your golf simulator business by avoiding administrative labor expenses, since your customers will be able to book automatically.
- Smart HVAC systems: You can cut energy costs and boost profitability for your golf simulator business, since your heating and cooling systems will only run when needed.
- Smart lighting systems: You can cut costs for your golf simulator business by saving on energy expenses when bays aren’t being used.
Step 4: Reinvest your time
This is perhaps the most important part of this guide, as it’s where you’ll truly be able to drive profitability for your golf simulator business. Instead of spending hours squinting at your monitor to make sure you entered data correctly, or triple-checking that reporting is accurate, you and your team now have the time to get back to things like:
- Engaging with your customers through events, contests, or leagues
- Improving your guests’ experience through swing tips, set-up help, or personalized coaching sessions
- Crafting or enhancing your in-venue food and beverage offerings
- Creating a development and training plan for your staff
The one thing all these opportunities have in common? They help you truly grow your business in ways that weren’t possible before.
So now you’re left with a question: are the choices you’re making for your organization today aligned with your future goals? If not, reach out to us below to learn more about how we can help you automate your business and free up time for the tasks that really matter.
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