Technology Solutions
Business Automation
Work out what is worth automating, who owns it, and how it stays working.
03 / Technology Solutions6 capabilities · 7 deliverables
The problem
Automating the wrong things is expensive, and so is automating nothing
Many automation projects begin with a tool and look for something to point it at. The result is a collection of one-off scripts and zaps that nobody documented, built by whoever was enthusiastic that month. When the person leaves or an app changes its API, a process quietly stops and the business finds out from an unhappy customer. Meanwhile the genuinely costly manual work, often an approval chain or a month-end reconciliation, stays untouched because it is awkward to describe.
The harder questions come before any tooling. Which tasks happen often enough, and with rules clear enough, to be worth automating? Which need human judgement and should stay that way? Who owns each automation, what happens when it fails, and how do you know it is still doing what you intended? Without answers, automation adds a new layer of fragility on top of the old process.
Sound familiar?
- Several people have built their own automations that nobody else knows exist
- Repetitive tasks such as copying data, chasing approvals and sending reminders consume a large part of the week
- Processes differ depending on who handles them, so errors are hard to trace
- An integration broke months ago and no one noticed until a customer complained
Our solution
A prioritised automation plan and the operating model to run it
We map your core processes, time the manual steps with the people who do them, and score each candidate on volume, rule clarity, error cost and effort to automate. The output is a ranked list: automate now, simplify the process first, keep manual, or revisit later. Sometimes the best result is deleting a step, not automating it.
We then define the operating model: who owns each automation, where it is documented, how failures are alerted, what is reviewed monthly, and how changes are approved. Building the flows themselves is a separate piece of work, covered under workflow automation, and we can do that or hand your own team a clear specification. This service is about making sound decisions and keeping automation under control.
Capabilities
What's inside.
- 01
Process mapping and time study
We document how work really flows, including exceptions and workarounds, and measure how often each task occurs and how long it takes.
- 02
Automation opportunity scoring
Each candidate is rated on volume, rule clarity, error cost, data availability and build effort, so the plan reflects return and risk rather than enthusiasm.
- 03
Process redesign before automation
Where a process is convoluted we simplify it first, since automating a bad process only makes the bad result arrive faster.
- 04
Tooling recommendations
A practical view on whether a task suits a no-code platform, a script, your CRM's built-in features or a custom build, with running costs included.
- 05
Ownership, monitoring and governance
A register of every automation with an owner, a failure alert, a review schedule and a change process, so nothing runs unsupervised.
- 06
Business case and measurement
Before-and-after measures defined up front, using your own time and error data, so you can check whether an automation delivered what you expected.
Process
How the work unfolds.
- Step 01
Operations review
Interviews and observation across the teams involved, plus a look at the tools, spreadsheets and inboxes that carry the work.
- Step 02
Scoring and prioritisation
We rank the candidates with you and agree which to automate, which to redesign and which to leave alone, with a rough effort estimate for each.
- Step 03
Operating model design
We define ownership, documentation standards, alerting, access to credentials and a review rhythm, sized to your team rather than a large enterprise.
- Step 04
Pilot and review
One or two high-value automations go live under the new model. After a few weeks we compare results to the baseline and adjust the plan.
You receive
Deliverables
- 01Process maps for the areas in scope
- 02Scored and ranked automation backlog
- 03Recommendations on what to simplify or leave manual
- 04Tooling and cost comparison
- 05Automation register template with owners and alert rules
- 06Governance and change-control guidelines
- 07Baseline measures and a pilot review report
Where it fits best
- E-commerceCatalogue structure, product-page SEO, checkout fixes, paid media and the integrations that keep stock, orders and finance in agreement.
- HealthcareLocation pages, booking flows, reviews and patient communication, built with privacy and the plain language patients actually search in.
- Real EstateListing experiences, lead capture and routing, neighbourhood content and follow-up automation that reaches the buyer while they are still looking.
- Professional ServicesAuthority-led content, specialism pages that rank, intake forms that qualify and CRM workflows that make referrals measurable.
- Local BusinessesGoogle Business Profile, local landing pages, review operations and a simple site that turns searches nearby into calls and visits.
FAQ
Questions we get asked.
How is this different from workflow automation?
Business automation is the decision layer: what to automate, in what order, and how the results are owned and monitored. Workflow automation is the build layer, where specific multi-step flows are implemented in tools. Many clients need the first before the second, and some only need one of them.
Do we need this if we already use tools like Zapier or Make?
Possibly more than someone starting out. Teams with many unmanaged automations often have duplicated logic, shared logins and no alerting. A review can consolidate them, document them and put someone in charge of each one.
What kinds of tasks are not worth automating?
Rare tasks, those that need judgement on every case, and processes that are still changing weekly. If the manual work takes ten minutes a month, the build and maintenance cost will exceed the saving. We will tell you when that is the case.
How do you estimate the savings?
We use your own figures: how often the task happens, how long it takes, who does it and what mistakes cost. We present a range with the assumptions stated, not a single confident number, and we measure the actual result after the pilot.
- TechnologyWorkflow AutomationWe build the specific automated flows your team needs, such as lead handling, onboarding, approvals and invoicing, using Make, n8n, Zapier or code where it fits.View
- TechnologyAI-Powered SolutionsWe build focused AI features such as document search, classification and draft generation with human review, evaluation and cost controls, and tell you where AI is the wrong tool.View
- TechnologyCRM Development & IntegrationWe configure, extend and integrate CRMs such as HubSpot, Zoho and Salesforce, or build a lightweight custom one, so leads and customers live in one reliable record.View
Ready to talk about business automation?
Send a few lines about what you're trying to move. We'll reply with questions, a rough shape of the work, or an honest no.
Or write to hello@asoftbit.com