What Should a Business Automate First?
A practical framework for identifying repetitive tasks that can be automated without making your business processes unnecessarily complicated.
LinkMyTech
Once a business discovers automation, the temptation is to try and automate everything simultaneously. This almost always leads to fragile, overly complicated systems that break under pressure.
The key to successful digital transformation is to automate incrementally, starting with the processes that drain the most time and carry the highest risk of human error.
A Practical Framework for Identifying What to Automate
To decide what to automate first, evaluate your daily operations against these five criteria:
1. Is it repeated frequently?
Automating a task you do once a month for 10 minutes is a waste of technical resources. Automating a task your team does 50 times a day for 2 minutes yields massive returns. Start with high-volume, repetitive actions.
2. Is it predictable and rule-based?
Automation excels at following strict rules. If a process requires deep human empathy, nuanced negotiation, or constant exceptions to the rules, it is a poor candidate for early-stage automation.
3. Does it involve moving data between systems?
The "swivel chair" problem—where a team member looks at one screen and types the information into another—is the most obvious automation target. (e.g., Manually moving leads from a spreadsheet into a CRM).
4. Is it prone to human error?
Humans are terrible at copying and pasting 16-digit tracking numbers or formatting phone numbers perfectly 100 times a day. If a small typo causes a major downstream issue (like shipping a product to the wrong address), let technology handle it.
The "Quick Win" Examples
If you are unsure where to begin, look at these standard starting points:
- Lead Capture: Connecting your website forms directly to your CRM to eliminate manual entry and prevent lost leads.
- Internal Notifications: Alerting the right team member via Slack, Teams, or WhatsApp immediately when a high-priority action occurs (like a large sale or a VIP support ticket).
- Reporting: Scheduling a weekly script that pulls data from three different tools and emails a consolidated PDF report to management, rather than spending three hours manually building it in Excel.
Conclusion
Start small. Pick one frustrating, manual bottleneck, automate it perfectly, and let the team experience the time savings. Once the value is proven, you can move on to more complex, AI-assisted workflows.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do we know if a process is too complex to automate?
If a process requires human empathy, constant subjective judgment, or deals with highly unstructured, unpredictable inputs, it should not be the first thing you automate.
Will automation replace my staff?
In most growing businesses, automation does not replace staff; it frees them from data entry so they can handle higher-value tasks, allowing the business to grow without constantly hiring administrative roles.
How long does it take to set up an automated workflow?
A simple lead-capture automation can be configured in a few hours. A complex, multi-system fulfillment workflow may take weeks of planning and testing.
What happens if the automation breaks?
Automations must be built with error handling. If an API fails, the system should instantly notify a technical owner (or partner) via Slack or email so the issue can be resolved before data is lost.
Need help with automate?
LinkMyTech designs and manages business automation across CRM, WhatsApp, email, APIs, AI tools and internal workflows.
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