Small companies then started to go up at a very low pace, but it took until 2012 to reach the June 2007 level again. Roughly put, this indicates that businesses with a low number of employees are waiting for some novel strategy to ensure a change of trend, a change allowing them to rival large enterprises. RPA for small businesses might respond precisely to this need.

The issue we tackle is basically how RPA can assist small businesses to become more competitive with large enterprises or global corporations, this being the umbrella-benefit of RPA for small businesses. Process automation is, in fact, a recommended measure for setting up businesses that are likely to eventually turn into successful, vying ones. In a Forbes article, Martin Zwilling suggests that ‘automation to the max’ is one of the crucial factors for an extensible startup.

Is automation feasible for small businesses?

The short answer is yes. In fact, RPA can be implemented even more efficiently in small than in large firms, for a number of reasons. A lower number of employees automatically translates into less possibility of internal resistance to RPA - a relevant issue for large enterprises. Since automation responsibilities do not need to be divided across various departments, organizational efficiency is increased and the chance of error decreased.

Furthermore, employees’ familiarity with the business processes is higher than in large companies, therefore facilitating automation. So there are good prospects for automation in small businesses. But what would the consequences be?

To what uses can RPA for small businesses be put?

1. Great scalability opportunities

RPA allows small business to flexibly adapt to what the moment requires in terms of the amount and the kinds of tasks required for any given goal. Automation can help small businesses accommodate the particular requirements of specific objectives. This is because robotic workforce is adaptable to task- and time-specific needs.

In the larger picture then, RPA makes small firms better able to cope with the unpredictable, and efficiently respond to changing market demands. This aspect nicely fits the flexibility of small businesses, their capacity to change quickly and adapt.

2. Productive and effectively organised business activities

One of the key advantages of RPA is its capacity to report much data about its processes. When applied to small businesses, this is very beneficial because they can take advantage of this data to improve the workflow. The immediate consequence is the firm’s heightened efficiency. Such streamlined activities are also inherently more productive.

3. Improved customer service

Small companies, more so than those with a larger number of employees, can have a hard time meeting the high variability of customer needs. But in an automated small company, where the dull, repetitive, routine tasks (like payroll or invoice filling) are passed on to software robots, the few employees can better focus on customer care.

Therefore customer needs can be better addressed by proficient, skilled workers who are willing to engage in personal interaction. Moreover, automatically generated reports (like those mentioned at (2) above) can be used to better understand customers’ needs.