Reducing red tape in small and medium-sized businesses
Reducing red tape in small and medium-sized businesses is an old dream of many entrepreneurs. It is true that much has already been done to simplify the opening and operation of companies. However, there is still a long way to go for this reduction to actually take place.
According to a study carried out by the consultancy firm Plum, Brazilian micro and small companies spend around 135 days a year just to solve administrative tasks. To give you an idea, companies of the same size in Canada spend four times less time with this work. This study also points out that bureaucracy causes losses of almost R$ 80 billion a year.
From these numbers, we can see that, although Brazil is one of the countries with the most people intending to undertake, it is not easy to set up and manage a company in the national territory.
But we must also not cross our arms and think that the solution can only come from the public management system. It is possible to overcome red tape with innovative solutions. For this reason, technology is an important ally of entrepreneurs.
It is through technological advances that today it has become possible to optimize the management of everyday tasks. Several tools to facilitate management are available in applications, SaaS (Softwares as a Service - which in a Portuguese translation would be Software sold as Services) and internet. These tools, combined with a team of collaborators prepared for the challenges of the new millennium, can accelerate processes and, thus, produce better productivity results.
Some low-cost solutions to improve the entrepreneurial experience can be found. Let's talk about some of them:
Data analysis
When you want to optimize and streamline the way business is done, you need to collect data from your customers and the market. With this information, it is possible to find patterns and trends to direct resources and attention more assertively to the places that your company needs most to grow.
Through data analysis, it is possible to discover in which processes employees are least productive or the types of activities that require more time from each employee. With this, it is possible to put it at the tip of the pencil if the acquisition of a tool that automates a certain set of tasks is more rewarding in financial and productive terms than having these processes carried out in the traditional way. An example of this is the use of artificial intelligence to answer consumer questions, a practice that many companies are currently adopting.
The integration of the management system
To overcome internal bureaucracy, a management system that is properly planned is necessary. Many entrepreneurs forget one of the most important business management tools: the Business Plan. Only with it is possible to circumvent bureaucracy and work with intelligence, directing efforts along less ardent paths.
Thus, it is important to know where you want to go in the short, medium and long term. So that, in this way, a system can be implemented that is integrated with other tools, avoiding the creation of an overlapping tree of applications that have no connection.
Therefore, good planning, to know in advance what management tools will be used in the business, is essential. And knowing what they are, the entrepreneur needs to see if it is possible to connect them so as not to waste time working separately on each of the platforms he has chosen to help manage his business.
Decentralization as a way to reduce bureaucracy
Another way to act to reduce bureaucracy is to give your employees more power. When many decisions are accumulated in just one person, the chances of falling into a bureaucratic trap are many. The company becomes slow, cumbersome, and costly. This jeopardizes her survival in the medium and long term.
Thus, for a company to be agile, dynamic and close to its customers, the decentralization of management is increasingly necessary. This means giving your employees the freedom to make decisions and solve problems that are not so complex.
Abolish the use of paper in the company
It may not seem like it, but companies spend a lot on paper. And that is the very essence of bureaucracy: signing a document here, stamping another piece of paper there... in short, we already know the result of this, don't we?
If a more precise calculation were to be made, it would be necessary to know how much money goes to the purchase of paper, printers, cartridges for printers, post offices or motorbikes - to carry the documents to be signed -, time and, finally, there is still the square meter of the office that is used to store the contracts.
Today, with technology, this expense is becoming increasingly unnecessary. It's possible to do everything electronically and digitally. All you need is a computer, or any other device, such as smartphones or tablets, with internet access.
An example of this technological evolution are automation and contract management platforms. Through them, it is possible to create contracts from forms and send them to clients via e-mail, SMS or Whatsapp, the signature is made electronically and the document is stored on the platform itself.
Security of electronic signatures
Many entrepreneurs are still afraid of electronic signatures, but we can say that they are extremely safe and reliable. Their protection is based on encryption algorithms that guarantee the inviolability of the documents. It's a great solution for those who want to modernize and streamline the bureaucratic process within their companies.
We can conclude, therefore, that it is not necessary to wait for public administration - at any level, municipal, state, or federal - to reduce bureaucratic processes in companies today. It is quite possible that the businessman himself will do this. But the entrepreneur is not alone. With the advancement of technology, today there are many tools that help you achieve this reduction.
The entrepreneur can search for these solutions on the internet, in applications, or in SaaS. Everything will depend on the sector in which you want to operate and your planning. Speaking of planning, it is important for the entrepreneur to have a good business plan to know what directions the company will follow in the short, medium and long term. Knowing this is necessary, since with planning you can choose the best management systems and integrate them with each other, so as not to waste time working on each one separately from the other. Giving employees autonomy can also be a great option to reduce red tape.
Finally, it is important to reduce the use of paper in companies, replacing its use with virtual documents that, thanks to the technology and legislation in force, have the same legal validity as paper documents.
