Beyond ERP: 6 Web Apps That Can Help Your Business Cut Costs
Every company must regularly review what it can do to cut costs. That’s just how things work in business. If you aren’t optimizing expenses, you’ll lose competition to those who are. Tech is very important in this regard because it’s designed to automate processes. And when you automate them, you spend fewer resources on them. That is, you have more resources on something else. So you got the idea. Now, let’s take a closer look at what kind of tech is actually implied here.
A Few Words About Custom-Designed Apps
Before we review the concrete enterprise apps that can help with reducing expenses, an important remark is that we actually mean custom apps here. This is because you cannot always achieve the results we’ll be discussing below with off-the-shelf solutions. Custom development services, in turn, specialize exactly in optimizing enterprise software for YOUR business. They take into account existing systems, the context you are operating in, and your prospects.
Thus, if you want an app to really bring change, it’s better to have it custom-built. Beyond building as such, experts will help you with integrating this app into your system as well as maintaining it.
And now, let’s see what apps we are talking about.
#1 Call Center Automation
This is the first to consider if the task is to reduce costs without impacting customer service (or even with the task of improving it). Custom call center automation apps can handle tons of repetitive tasks for you:
- answering common queries
- routing calls
- managing customer information.Â
Such apps often use AI and ML. Thanks to this, their responses are accurate and timely.
How Much Can It Save?
Automating call centers can reduce labor costs by up to 30% and increase efficiency by 20-30%. For a medium-sized business, this could translate to annual savings of $100k to $300k.
#2 Communication Apps
Efficient communication is very important for any business but organizing one usually eats much of your resources. Custom communication apps are perhaps the most budget solution. They handle both internal and external communications. They integrate with other tools. And they have many cool features including
- instant messaging
- video conferencing
- collaborative workspaces.
It’s not just about costs here. Employees are usually reluctant when they need to use multiple communication platforms. So getting a single custom communication app designed is, among all else, a way to make them… a bit happier.
How Much Can It Save?
Consolidating multiple communication tools can save businesses up to 25% on software costs. Plus, increased productivity can lead to time savings. The latter can be potentially worth $10k to $50k annually (for a small or medium-sized business).
#3 HRM Tools
When you are a small business, human resource management (HRM) is no big deal. When you grow, it can turn into a headache. HRM tools may help as they automate
- recruitment
- onboarding
- payroll
- performance management.
HRM apps should preferably be custom because you want them to ensure compliance with local regulations as well as streamline administrative tasks.
How Much Can It Save?
Such apps can reduce HR administration costs by up to 60%. For a company with 100 employees, for instance, this could mean annual savings of $60k to $100k.
#4 Billing & Accounting Apps
Billing and accounting apps are equally useful. They automate
- invoicing
- expense tracking
- financial reporting.
It’s likewise preferable that they are custom because they must integrate with your existing accounting systems.
How Much Can It Save?
Depending on the business type, these solutions can reduce processing costs by up to 80%. That is, for a medium-sized business, this could translate to savings of $50k to $150k annually.
#5 Document Management Apps
Managing documents manually no longer works. It’s clear to everyone. The only question is how exactly to replace it. Custom document management apps are one of the variants. They digitize and automate document workflows. Depending on your requirements, they can be designed with a focus on secure storage, easy retrieval, or compliance with regulatory requirements.
How Much Can It Save?
A well-designed system can reduce document handling costs by up to 50%. This can lead to savings of $20k to $100k annually for a medium-sized business.
#6 Supply Chain Software
The supply chain is usually the most problematic in terms of cost optimization. It’s at least wise to use specialized software to optimize
- the flow of goods and materials
- inventory management
- supplier relationships.
How Much Can It Save?
Here, it varies largely depending on your business’s specialization. Overall, this can be something of a 20% reduction in operational costs. For a business with significant logistics operations, this could mean annual savings of $100k to $500k.
On balance, if you are serious about optimization, enterprise web apps are perhaps the number one solution to consider. Their beauty is that they can help with processes that are traditionally problematic in terms of costs: supply chain management, HRM, and the like. The scope of savings will, of course, depend on your business type. But the fact that these savings will take place is almost certain.
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