When Should You Automate Your Business Workflows? A Practical Guide

When Should You Automate Your Business Workflows?

Automation sounds great in theory, but not every manual process is worth automating. We've seen companies waste thousands on automating the wrong things. Here's how to avoid that.

The 3 Rules for Automation ROI

Rule 1: Volume × Time = Opportunity

Calculate how much time your team spends on a task per week. If it's less than 2 hours total, automation probably isn't worth it yet.

Example:

Task takes 10 minutes

Done 3 times per week

Total: 30 minutes/week = Not worth automating (yet)

Vs.

Task takes 10 minutes

Done 50 times per week

Total: 8+ hours/week = Strong automation candidate

Rule 2: The "Rule-Based" Test

If you can write down clear if/then rules for a process, it's probably automatable. If it requires human judgment on every instance, it's not ready.

Good automation candidates:

"If customer email contains 'refund', forward to finance team"

"When invoice is paid, update CRM and send thank you email"

"Every Monday at 9am, pull last week's sales data into report"

Bad automation candidates:

"Read this proposal and decide if we should work with them"

"Look at these designs and pick the best one"

"Write a unique response to each customer based on context"

Rule 3: Stability Before Automation

Don't automate a process that's still changing. If you're still figuring out the best way to do something, automation will just lock in a bad process.

Wait until:

The process has been stable for 3+ months

Your team agrees this is "the way" to do it

Changes are rare (not weekly tweaks)

Red Flags: When NOT to Automate

1. **The process takes 5 minutes once a month**

Just do it manually. The ROI isn't there.

2. **You're automating to avoid fixing a broken process**

Fix the process first, then automate.

3. **The cost of errors is very high**

If a mistake could lose a major customer or cause compliance issues, keep humans in the loop.

4. **The tool landscape is changing rapidly**

If you're switching between tools every 6 months, wait until things stabilize.

The Best First Automation Projects

Start with these high-impact, low-risk workflows:

1. Data Entry Between Systems

Moving data from one tool to another (CRM to spreadsheet, support ticket to project management, etc.)

Why it works:

High volume

Rule-based

Low error risk

Immediate time savings

2. Notification & Alert Routing

Sending alerts, notifications, or tasks to the right people based on triggers.

Why it works:

Fast ROI

Easy to test and refine

Reduces response times

Improves customer satisfaction

3. Report Generation

Pulling data and creating recurring reports.

Why it works:

Very repeatable

Time-consuming when manual

High visibility (leadership notices)

Clear success metrics

How We Approach Automation Projects

At SJK, we follow a simple framework:

1. **Map the current state** (1 week)

Watch your team work. Document every step. Find bottlenecks.

2. **Calculate ROI** (1 day)

Time saved × hourly cost × 12 months vs. automation cost.

3. **Build MVP automation** (2-4 weeks)

Start with the highest-value portion. Get something working fast.

4. **Test & refine** (2 weeks)

Run in parallel with manual process. Catch edge cases.

5. **Scale** (ongoing)

Once proven, expand to other workflows.

Real Example: Support Ticket Routing

Before automation:

50 tickets/day manually reviewed and assigned

15 minutes per ticket = 12.5 hours/day

Delays in response time

Inconsistent routing decisions

After automation:

80% of tickets automatically routed based on keywords and customer data

Only complex cases reviewed manually (10 tickets/day)

2.5 hours/day of manual work

Saved 10 hours/day = $50K+/year in labor costs

**Cost to build:** $15K

**Payback period:** 4 months

Getting Started

Ask yourself:

1. What manual task does your team complain about most?

2. How many hours per week does it take?

3. Can you write down clear rules for how it should work?

If you answered #1 and #2, and the answer to #3 is yes, you've found a great automation candidate.

Need Help?

We help teams identify and automate their highest-ROI workflows. Book a free 20-minute call to discuss your specific situation.

When Should You Automate Your Business Workflows? A Practical Guide