Automate first

What should you automate first?

One page per trade. The three tasks most worth getting off your plate, each with a prompt you can run this week, a version we build together, and an always-on version we build and run. Written for Oklahoma shops with one to ten people.

  • What should an accountant or consultant automate first? : The inquiry that came in Tuesday gets answered Friday, the notes from three calls are still in a notebook instead of the CRM, and a 60-day-old invoice is sitting there making you feel awkward. Your actual expertise is the easy part of the week.
  • What should an auto detailer automate first? : A photo of a dog-hair interior came in at lunch. You meant to quote it after this car, and by the time you circled back the customer had booked the shop down the road. Then the 8:30 tomorrow forgets, and the bay sits empty.
  • What should a cleaning company automate first? : A walkthrough quote from Tuesday is still sitting in your Notes app, the 8 AM crew is standing on a porch nobody confirmed, and there are 30 applications to read tonight if you want anyone to show up Monday. None of that is cleaning.
  • What should a contractor automate first? : You've got a bid that went quiet three weeks ago, a change order riding around on the dash of your truck, and a homeowner texting 'any update?' before you've had coffee. None of that is because you're bad at this job, it's because there's one of you and about six jobs' worth of paperwork.
  • What should a coworking space automate first? : A great tour on Tuesday, radio silence by Wednesday, and the lead signs with the space down the street. Meanwhile two groups are standing in the hall holding confirmations for the same conference room, and the member newsletter is three weeks late.
  • What should an electrician automate first? : A 9 AM missed call turns into a 5 PM voicemail about no power in half the house, the $4,000 panel quote from last week has gone quiet, and tonight's scribbles still have to become invoices. The electrical work was the fun part.
  • What should an event venue automate first? : Someone texts at midnight asking if a Saturday in June is open, and you answer from bed, wrong. Then the head count grows by 40 the week of, the balance never got paid, and Sunday night you're hunting for something to post after stacking 200 chairs.
  • What should a gym, salon, or studio automate first? : You walk out of a 90-minute session or a full color appointment and your phone shows three missed calls, no voicemails, and one of them already booked somewhere else. The parts of the job that actually drain you aren't the workouts or the haircuts, it's the texting, the same freeze policy answer forty times, and wondering who quietly stopped showing up.
  • What should an HVAC company automate first? : You quote a $9,000 replacement, hear nothing back, and just have to guess whether the homeowner is thinking it over or shopping three other companies. Then the phone rings at 11 PM with no AC and a toddler in the house, and it's you deciding between answering it and sleeping.
  • What should a landscaper automate first? : You're hosing mud off your boots at eight at night while a homeowner wonders why nobody's called them back about their cleanup. Somewhere between the truck, the mower, and the invoice pile, the paperwork always loses.
  • What should a small oil and gas operator automate first? : It's the 28th. The purchaser check stubs are stacked next to the keyboard, WolfePak is open, and the pumper's morning texts are somewhere in a thread you haven't read since the 12th.
  • What should a photographer or maker automate first? : You've had a DM sitting unanswered since Tuesday because you were up to your wrists in glue, floral wire, or Lightroom, and now someone else booked that Saturday. Your prices live in your head, your calendar lives in your phone, and neither one talks to Instagram.
  • What should a plumber automate first? : You're elbow deep in a water heater install when your phone buzzes with a voicemail from midnight, and by the time you call back, they've already booked the next plumber on Google. Then Sunday night rolls around and you're squinting at a stack of handwritten tickets trying to remember what a 3/4 inch coupling actually cost you on Tuesday.
  • What should a property manager automate first? : There's a tenant on their third call about the same leak, a lease that expired last week with nobody watching the date, and a Google rating drifting down because the only people who leave reviews are the ones with a broken AC in July.
  • What should a realtor automate first? : The lead came in Tuesday night while you were at a showing. By the time you called back Wednesday they'd found another agent, and the listing description you meant to write is still four bullet points in your phone.
  • What should a restaurant or bakery automate first? : You didn't get into baking or cooking to spend your morning typing your own hours into Instagram DMs for the fortieth time. Between the lunch rush, the weekend catering order, and the pile of unread reviews, the small stuff eats the hours you needed for prep.
  • What should a roofer automate first? : You didn't get into roofing to become a part-time claims adjuster or a social media manager. Between chasing depreciation checks, answering the same insurance question for the fourth time today, and trying to remember which lead texted you last night, the actual roofing keeps sliding to the bottom of the list.
  • What should a local shop automate first? : 'Is this still available?' lands at 9:47 on a Saturday night. Meanwhile the new stock has been in the back for a week because writing the listing felt like homework, and a vendor wants your wholesale minimums explained for the twelfth time.