Businesses strategize to get work done with fewer staffers

NEW YORK (AP) >> Using technology to run her practice lets defense attorney Susan Williams give clients the time and attention they need.

Williams decided years ago she didn’t want a large staff that would require her to increase her caseload simply to have the money to pay her employees. She has one part-time assistant and uses software for tasks like scheduling and sharing documents with clients.

“I never want to have a practice where people feel like their lawyer is being spread too thin,” says Williams, who is based in Charleston, South Carolina.

Small business owners who want or need to limit hiring have developed strategies that allow them to work more cheaply. Many have embraced software and apps that do administrative tasks, make manufacturing more efficient or provide quick customer service. Many owners use freelancers or independent contractors rather than employees; companies save money on employment costs, and also have more flexibility when they need specific talents or expertise for a project.

These trends have contributed to the often erratic pace of small business hiring since the Great Recession. Last week, payroll company ADP said its small business customers created 66,000 jobs in August. That was after adding just 1,000 in July and cutting 11,000 in June and 34,000 in May.

Williams uses technology to keep her overhead down, but her practice management software also makes communication with clients easier; it sends messages, shares documents and has a calendar that lets clients, witnesses and other attorneys know about court dates, meetings and other events.

Taking on more clients to pay for more staffers would detract from Williams’ ability to give each case the attention it needs.

“Clients are facing difficult, possibly life-altering scenarios with their case outcomes,” she says. “Quality is far more important than quantity when the stakes are this high.”

Expect small businesses to keep automating. A report from the Brookings Institution released in January said that approximately 36 million people, or a quarter of the current U.S. workforce, could see the major

TED S. WARREN - THE ASSOCIATED PRESS PHOTO Shane Griffiths, right, and Trenton Erker, left, co-owners of the digital marketing company Clarity Online, pose for a photo in Seattle. Griffiths and Erker use technology for tasks like billing, scheduling appointments, tracking the time they spend on clients’ projects and putting together reports on visits to client websites, as well as using freelancers for other tasks as ways to save money on employment costs, and also have more flexibility when they need specific talents or expertise for a project.