Step 1: List the repeat work
For one week, write down every task someone in your business does more than three times. Note who does it, how long it takes, and what tool it happens in (email, phone, spreadsheet, a web form).
Step 2: Score each task
Give each task a 1-3 score on four questions:
| Question | 1 | 3 |
|---|---|---|
| How often does it happen? | Monthly | Daily |
| Does it follow the same steps each time? | Rarely | Almost always |
| Is the information already digital? | Paper or memory | In email, forms or software |
| What happens if it's done late or wrong? | Annoying | Lost customer or money |
Tasks scoring 10 or more are your best first candidates.
Step 3: Keep a person in the loop
For your top task, decide where a person must approve before anything goes out: quotes, refunds, anything legal or medical, anything sent to a customer for the first time. Good automation drafts and routes work; people approve the decisions that matter.
Step 4: Gather what a builder will ask for
- Logins or admin access to the tools involved (or who owns them)
- Three to five real examples of the task, start to finish
- The rules you follow in your head ("if the job is under X, we..."), written down
- Who gets alerted when something fails
Step 5: Define "working"
Write one sentence: "This is working if ___." Use your own numbers, for example hours saved per week or calls answered that used to be missed. Check it after 30 days.
When you have this page filled in, you can scope a build in one conversation instead of five.