Resources

Business Automation Starter

Simple workflows for small business owners who want to stop doing the same task twice. Each recipe below names the actual problem, the real tools to fix it — mostly free — and plain-language steps to set it up.

Lead Follow-Up

Catch leads the moment they show up — before they go cold

A lead fills out your contact form and nobody follows up for days

Tools

Google Forms (or your existing website form) · Make.com (free plan) · Gmail

Setup

  1. If you don't already have a web form, create a free Google Form for "Request a Quote" or "Contact Me."
  2. In Make.com, create a new scenario with a Google Forms trigger ("Watch Responses").
  3. Add a Gmail action that sends the lead an instant "thanks, I got your message" auto-reply.
  4. Add a Google Sheets action that logs the lead's name, contact info, and date into a spreadsheet — this becomes your lead tracker.
  5. Turn the scenario on. Every new lead now gets an instant reply and a spot on your list automatically.

You have a spreadsheet full of leads but keep forgetting to follow up on the ones who went quiet

Tools

Google Sheets · Make.com (free plan) · Google Calendar

Setup

  1. In your lead tracker sheet, add a column called "Follow-Up Date."
  2. In Make.com, create a scenario triggered on a new or updated row in that sheet.
  3. Add a Google Calendar action that creates a reminder on the Follow-Up Date with the lead's name and phone number in the title.
  4. Now every lead gets a calendar reminder automatically instead of relying on memory.

Leads come from three different places — website, Facebook, referrals — and never end up in one list

Tools

Make.com (free plan) · Google Sheets · Facebook Lead Ads (if you run them)

Setup

  1. Create one master Google Sheet for every lead, no matter where it came from.
  2. In Make.com, build a separate scenario for each source: one watching your website form, one watching Facebook Lead Ads (Make has a built-in module for this), one forwarding referral emails into the sheet.
  3. Point every scenario at the same Google Sheet.
  4. Now you have one list to work from, not three inboxes to check.

Customer Communication

Say the right thing at the right moment, without retyping it every time

You type the same "thanks for your business" message over and over

Tools

Gmail (built-in Templates feature — free, no other app needed)

Setup

  1. In Gmail, go to Settings → See all settings → Advanced → enable "Templates."
  2. Write your message once in a new email, then use the three-dot menu → Templates → Save draft as template.
  3. Next time, open a new email, pull in the template from the same menu, personalize the name, and send.
  4. No automation platform needed for this one — sometimes the fix really is a built-in setting nobody turned on.

A customer pays an invoice and you forget to tell them what happens next

Tools

QuickBooks, Wave, or Square (whichever you already use) · Make.com (free plan) · Gmail

Setup

  1. In Make.com, add the native module for whichever invoicing tool you use, and use its "Invoice Paid" trigger.
  2. Add a Gmail action that sends a "payment received, here's what happens next" email automatically.
  3. Turn it on. Paid invoices now trigger a message without you touching anything.

You want to check in with customers a set number of days after a job, but you always forget

Tools

Google Sheets · Make.com (free plan, scheduled scenario) · Gmail

Setup

  1. Log each completed job or sale in a Google Sheet with a "Completed Date" column.
  2. In Make.com, set up a scenario that runs once a day and checks the sheet for rows where the Completed Date matches your check-in window (e.g., exactly 7 days ago).
  3. For matching rows, send a check-in email automatically through Gmail.
  4. This runs quietly in the background — no reminder on your phone, no sticky note.

Scheduling & Reminders

Stop trading texts to find a time — and stop losing appointments to no-shows

You're texting back and forth trying to find a time that works instead of just letting people book

Tools

Google Calendar's built-in Appointment Schedule feature (free)

Setup

  1. In Google Calendar, click Create → and choose "Appointment schedule" instead of a regular event.
  2. Set your available hours and how long each appointment should run.
  3. Grab the shareable booking link and put it in your email signature, texts, or website.
  4. Customers pick a time that's actually open on your calendar — no back-and-forth required.

A recurring task keeps slipping because it's never urgent until it's late

Tools

Google Calendar (recurring events with notifications — free, no other app needed)

Setup

  1. Create a recurring calendar event for the task at the frequency it actually needs to happen (weekly invoicing, monthly restock check, etc.).
  2. Set a notification 1 day ahead so it's on your radar before it's overdue.
  3. This one is boring on purpose. Boring and automatic beats memorable and missed.

Customers no-show because they forgot the appointment

Tools

Google Calendar Appointment Schedule (built-in reminders, free) · or Make.com + Gmail for more control

Setup

  1. If you're using Google Calendar's Appointment Schedule, reminder emails go out automatically — no extra setup.
  2. For more control, build a Make.com scenario that checks tomorrow's calendar events each evening and sends a reminder email through Gmail.
  3. Text reminders need a paid SMS service like Twilio behind Make — worth it once no-shows start costing you real money, not before.

Admin & Paperwork

Get the boring stuff off your desk before it piles up

Receipts are scattered across email, your wallet, and your glovebox, and tax time is a nightmare

Tools

A dedicated Gmail label or address for receipts · Make.com (free plan) · Google Sheets

Setup

  1. Create a Gmail label just for receipts, and forward digital receipts there as they come in (or set a filter to do it automatically).
  2. In Make.com, set up a scenario watching that label for new emails.
  3. Add a Google Sheets action that logs the sender, date, and amount (if visible) into a running spreadsheet.
  4. At tax time, you have one spreadsheet instead of a search through eight months of email.

You keep forgetting to invoice on time, so cash flow is unpredictable

Tools

Wave (free invoicing) or QuickBooks — recurring invoice feature, built in

Setup

  1. In Wave (free) or QuickBooks, open the invoice for a repeat customer and set it as "recurring."
  2. Choose the frequency — weekly, monthly, or per completed job.
  3. The invoice now goes out on schedule automatically. You just make sure the work matches what's billed.

New customer paperwork — intake forms, contracts — takes forever to chase down signatures for

Tools

Google Forms (free) · Dropbox Sign or similar (free tier — a few signatures/month) · Google Sheets

Setup

  1. Build your intake form in Google Forms — it's free and responses log automatically.
  2. For anything that legally needs a signature, use the free tier of a tool like Dropbox Sign instead of printing and scanning paper.
  3. Every response lands in a Google Sheet you can reference anytime, without digging through email.

Reviews & Reputation

Get the reviews you've earned, and catch the bad ones before they sit for a week

You do good work but almost nobody leaves you a review

Tools

Google Sheets · Make.com (free plan, scheduled scenario) · Gmail

Setup

  1. Log completed jobs in your tracker sheet with a completed date.
  2. In Make.com, set up a scheduled scenario that finds jobs completed 2-3 days ago.
  3. Send an automatic email or text with a direct link to your Google Business Profile review page (grab this link free from your Google Business Profile dashboard).
Grab the wording from the AI Prompt Library →

A bad review shows up and you don't see it for days

Tools

Google Business Profile app (free, built-in notifications) · or Make.com + Gmail/Slack for extra coverage

Setup

  1. Turn on notifications in the Google Business Profile app so you're alerted the moment a review posts.
  2. For extra coverage, build a Make.com scenario using the native Google Business Profile module that sends you an email or Slack message on every new review — good or bad — so you can respond fast.

Reviews land on Google, Facebook, and Yelp, and you only ever check one

Tools

Make.com (free plan) · Google Sheets

Setup

  1. In Make.com, set up separate scenarios watching Google Business Profile and Facebook Page reviews (both have native modules).
  2. Point them at one Google Sheet so every review, regardless of platform, lands in one place you actually check.
  3. Yelp doesn't open its review feed the same way — for that one, just check it manually once a week. Not everything needs to be automated, some things just need a habit.