How One Conversation with My Accountant Sparked My First Business Automation (And Saved Me Hours Every Week)
If you’ve chatted with me at a networking event for over 10 minutes, you’ve likely heard me mention “Home Assistant.” My house isn’t quite Tony Stark’s with Jarvis running the show, but my daughter and I refer to our home system as “Kevin the Computer.”
Smart vs. Intelligent: Why Most Automation Gets It Wrong
Here’s the thing, I’m a geek so I had to take it further than really needed. I didn’t set out to build a “dumb smart house” where you’re constantly barking commands at Alexa. Instead, I created an intelligent environment where things happen automatically when specific triggers occur, seamlessly fitting into our lives.
When I began this journey 5-6 years ago, my wife questioned why I was bothering with all this tech. Now? There are automations she couldn’t imagine living without. They’ve become invisible yet essential parts of our daily routine.
This same principle applies perfectly to your business.
The Moment Everything Changed: A Simple Accountant’s Request
Recently, I implemented my first significant business automation, and it all started with one conversation with my accountants when I first started the business.
They told me I’d need to use QuickBooks for digital accounts. Fine. QuickBooks for invoicing? No problem. But then came the kicker: “To do that, you’ll need to put every customer’s details into your system as a customer.”
That’s where I went, “I’m not doing that.“
Why would I need to ask my customer for their details, copy them, and manually input them into multiple systems? It just didn’t seem right. It didn’t make sense. It would be a complete waste of my time.
Building a Solution That Actually Works
So I created an onboarding experience for my clients – a custom form on an admin site that collects their contact details, business information, and account passwords. When they hit submit, it triggers 15 or 16 other actions without them even knowing:
- Adds their details to QuickBooks
- Creates entries in my project management system
- Sets up time tracking
- Creates a dedicated Google Drive folder for file uploads
- Adds their phone number to my contacts (so I know who’s calling)
- Adds them to my marketing email list (if they’ve opted in)
- Sends welcome emails with next steps
This saves me about an hour per new client. More importantly, it adds consistency – every client gets set up the same way, and I always know where to find their information.
Watch the full video below.
Finding Your Business Automation Opportunities
I nearly didn’t set this up because I thought an hour per client wasn’t worth the setup time. It probably took me two hours to build once I really got into it. But it shows that once you know there’s going to be a repeated task, the investment pays off quickly.
Here’s a simple approach to identify automation potential in your business:
- Track your tasks for one week (yes, it’s tedious but invaluable)
- Analyse where your time goes
- Identify repetitive processes that could be automated
- Implement solutions that genuinely save time
The Golden Rule of Business Automation
The biggest mistake I see is setting up automations for the sake of it. A truly useful automation is one that’s needed, not forced.
Don’t try to fit an automation when it’s not needed. You only automate things that you do repeatedly and that can genuinely save you time.
There are brilliant tools available that can connect your online systems – I personally favour Zapier, but Make (formerly Integromat) is another excellent option.
The Bottom Line
These tools can give you valuable minutes – if not hours – back each week. Time you can spend on growing your business, serving your customers better, or actually having a life outside work.
The question isn’t “Can you afford to automate?” It’s “Can you afford not to?“
Got repeated tasks that are eating up your time? I’d love to hear about the problems you’re facing and discuss some ideas that could help. Get in touch through our contact form and let’s chat about how business automation could work for your specific situation.
