Happy New Year.

Let's skip the "new year, new you" garbage and talk about something that actually matters: the automations you're running right now are probably costing you money.

I spent last week doing automation audits for three different businesses. All of them thought their systems were dialed in. All of them were wrong. And the fixes? Dead simple. But they were bleeding revenue because nobody bothered to look under the hood.

Here's what I found, and more importantly, here's how to fix it in your business before February hits.

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The Three Automation Sins

Most business owners fall into one of three camps when it comes to automation:

Camp 1: The Over-Automators

These folks automate everything. And I mean everything. They've got workflows triggering workflows triggering Slack notifications that nobody reads. Their CRM looks like a Christmas tree lit up with tags that mean nothing.

I had a client last month with 47 active automations. Forty-seven. When I asked him what each one did, he could explain maybe 12 of them. The rest? "I think that one sends something when someone does... something?"

That's not automation. That's digital hoarding.

The problem with over-automation isn't just complexity. It's maintenance. Every automation you add is another thing that can break. Another integration that can fail. Another workflow that needs updating when you change your process.

And here's the kicker: most of those automations aren't moving the needle. They're just creating the illusion of productivity while actually slowing everything down.

Camp 2: The Under-Automators

On the flip side, you've got people still manually doing tasks that should have been automated in 2019. They're copying and pasting the same email 30 times a week. They're manually adding people to spreadsheets. They're setting calendar reminders to follow up with leads.

One business owner told me she spends 90 minutes every Monday morning "organizing her week." When I looked at what she was actually doing, it was all stuff that could run on autopilot.

Ninety minutes. Every single Monday. That's 78 hours a year doing robot work.

But it gets worse. When you're doing everything manually, you're inconsistent. You forget to follow up with leads. You miss appointments. You send the wrong information to the wrong people. And every mistake costs you money.

The under-automators usually have one of two excuses: "I don't have time to set it up" or "I don't know how." Both are fixable. The setup time pays for itself in the first week. And the "how" is easier than you think.

Camp 3: The Broken Automators

This is the worst camp. These people set up automations two years ago and haven't touched them since. Meanwhile, their business has changed. Their offers have changed. Their pricing has changed.

But their automations? Still sending people to a sales page that doesn't exist anymore. Still tagging leads with categories they stopped using in 2024. Still triggering follow-ups for products they don't even sell.

I found one automation that had been sending the same broken Calendly link for eight months. Eight months of leads hitting a dead end because nobody checked if the thing still worked.

Think about that. Every single person who clicked that link got a 404 error. They thought the business was unprofessional or out of business. And the owner had no idea it was happening.

That's not just a broken automation. That's a broken business.

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The 15-Minute Automation Audit

Here's how to figure out which camp you're in and fix it fast.

Step 1: List Every Active Automation (5 minutes)

Go into whatever platform you use. Make.com, Zapier, your CRM, your email tool, whatever. Write down every single automation that's currently running.

Don't skip this. I know it's boring. Do it anyway.

You're looking for:

Create a simple spreadsheet with three columns: Automation Name, What It Does, Last Updated.

If you can't fill in "What It Does" without looking it up, that's a red flag. If "Last Updated" is more than six months ago, that's another red flag.

Step 2: The "Why Does This Exist?" Test (5 minutes)

Go through your list. For each automation, ask yourself:

"If I turned this off tomorrow, would I notice within a week?"

If the answer is no, turn it off. Right now. You don't need it.

If the answer is "I'm not sure," that's a no. Turn it off.

If the answer is "Oh god yes, everything would break," keep it and move to step 3.

Here's what usually happens: you'll find that 40-50% of your automations are either redundant, outdated, or solving problems you don't have anymore.

One client had an automation that sent a weekly report to an employee who quit 14 months earlier. Another had three different automations doing the same job because they forgot they'd already built it.

This isn't about being perfect. It's about being intentional. Every automation should have a clear purpose and a measurable impact.

Step 3: The Functionality Check (5 minutes)

For every automation you're keeping, click through the entire flow. Actually test it.

I found an automation last week that was sending a "limited time offer" email. The offer ended in March 2024. It's January 2026. That's not automation. That's embarrassment on autopilot.

Another client had an automation that was supposed to send a welcome email immediately after purchase. But somewhere along the way, someone added a 24-hour delay. So customers were paying and then hearing nothing for a full day. The owner couldn't figure out why people kept emailing asking if their order went through.

Test everything. Click every link. Fill out every form. Make sure the automation does what you think it does.

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The Five Automations Every Business Actually Needs

After auditing dozens of businesses, here's what I've learned: most companies need way fewer automations than they think. But the ones they do need have to be bulletproof.

1. Lead Capture to CRM

When someone fills out a form, they need to land in your system immediately with all the right information. No manual entry. No "I'll add them later." Instant.

This should include:

Why this matters: if you're manually entering leads, you're slow. And slow loses deals. I've seen businesses lose 20-30% of their leads just because they took too long to follow up.

The automation should also trigger your first follow-up email immediately. Not tomorrow. Not when you remember. Right now.

2. Appointment Confirmation and Reminder

If you take appointments, this is non-negotiable. One confirmation email immediately after booking. One reminder 24 hours before. One reminder 2 hours before.

This alone will cut your no-show rate in half. I've seen it happen over and over.

But here's what most people get wrong: they send generic reminders. "You have an appointment tomorrow at 2pm."

That's not helpful. Your reminder should include:

Make it so easy that they have no excuse to miss it.

3. Lead Follow-Up Sequence

Most leads don't buy on day one. They need multiple touchpoints. Your automation should handle this without you lifting a finger.

A basic sequence:

But here's the key: each email should be valuable on its own. Don't just "check in." Give them something useful. A tip. A resource. A case study. Something that reminds them why they were interested in the first place.

And track everything. Open rates, click rates, response rates. The data will tell you which emails are working and which need to be rewritten.

4. Client Onboarding

The moment someone becomes a client, they should receive everything they need to get started. Welcome email, access instructions, next steps, calendar links, whatever applies to your business.

This shouldn't require you to remember to send anything. It should just happen.

I've seen businesses lose clients in the first week because onboarding was a mess. The client paid, got confused about what to do next, and asked for a refund.

Your onboarding automation should:

Make the first experience so smooth that they immediately feel good about their decision to work with you.

5. Weekly Reporting

Every Monday morning, you should get an email with your key numbers from last week. Leads, sales, revenue, whatever matters to your business.

Not because you can't log into your dashboard. Because you won't. And if you don't see the numbers, you can't improve them.

This automation should pull data from your CRM, your payment processor, your ad accounts, wherever your numbers live. And it should present them in a simple, scannable format.

You should be able to look at this email for 30 seconds and know exactly how your business performed last week.

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The Automation That Saved 11 Hours a Week

Let me tell you about Sarah. She runs a consulting business doing about $28K a month. Good money. But she was drowning in admin work.

Every time someone booked a call, she had to:

Five steps. Every single booking. She was doing this 15-20 times a week.

When I asked her why she didn't automate it, she said, "I tried once but it didn't work, so I just do it manually now."

That's the problem. Most people try to automate something, hit one roadblock, and give up. Then they spend the next two years doing it manually.

We built one automation that handled all five steps. Took us 90 minutes to set up. Now it runs 24/7 without her touching it.

The result? She got 11 hours back every week. Eleven hours she now spends on actual revenue-generating work instead of data entry.

That's 572 hours a year. If her time is worth $200/hour (and it is), that's $114,400 in recovered capacity. From one automation.

But here's what really changed: her follow-up became consistent. Before, she'd sometimes forget to follow up with leads. Now, every single person gets the same high-quality experience. Her close rate went from 18% to 27% just because she stopped dropping the ball.

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The Tool That Makes This All Possible

Look, I'm not here to sell you on a bunch of complicated software. But if you're serious about automation, you need a platform that can actually handle the work.

I use Make.com for almost everything. It connects to basically every tool you're already using, it's visual so you can actually see what's happening, and it doesn't require you to be a developer.

The free plan gives you 1,000 operations a month, which is plenty to get started. And if you use that link, you're supporting this newsletter while you're at it.

But here's the thing: the tool doesn't matter if you don't know what to automate. That's why the audit matters. Figure out what's broken first. Then fix it with the right automation.

I've seen people spend thousands of dollars on automation tools and still do everything manually because they never took the time to actually build the workflows.

The tool is just the tool. The strategy is what matters.

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What to Do Right Now

Stop reading and do the 15-minute audit. Seriously. Set a timer and go through your automations.

You'll find at least three things that are either broken or pointless. Turn them off. You'll immediately feel lighter.

Then pick one automation from the "Five Automations Every Business Needs" list that you don't have yet. Build it this week. Just one.

Next week, build another one.

By the end of January, you'll have a system that actually works instead of a pile of digital clutter that kind of works sometimes.

And if you need help, reply to this email. I'll point you in the right direction.

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What’s Coming Wednesday

I’m going to show you the mistakes most businesses make when it comes to their CRM’s and 5 ‘fixes’ to take.

See you Wednesday.

Dan

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P.S. If you found this useful, forward it to another business owner who's drowning in manual work. They'll thank you for it.