Automation for mid-sized businesses: the first three steps

Automation sounds like a big project with a big IT department. In truth it starts small: with the one task you handle by hand every week even though it always runs the same way. Here are the first three steps for mid-sized businesses without an IT team of their own.

Step 1: pick the right process

Not every process is suitable. Anything that happens often, follows clear rules and needs little gut feeling automates well. Typical candidates are setting up new customers, sending confirmations or moving data between two programmes that do not talk to each other.

A simple rule of thumb: if you repeat a task several times a week and barely have to think while doing it, it is worth a look.

Step 2: do the maths honestly

Before we automate anything, we look at the numbers. How often does the task come up, how long does it take and how expensive is a mistake? Only then does it become clear whether the setup pays off. Sometimes the answer is a clear yes, sometimes a better template is enough instead of an automation.

Step 3: start small and measure

We deliberately keep the first workflow small, let it run alongside for a few days and check that the result is correct. If it works reliably, we build on it. Over weeks this grows into a system that takes work off your desk, rather than a large project that is never finished.

At Laufwerk we use self-hosted automation tools for this, which connect programmes without you having to write code.