The Small Business Owner’s Guide to Automating 7 Key Admin Tasks

Introduction: Where Does All the Time Go?

If you're a small business owner in Derbyshire, you likely spend less than 50% of your day doing the work that actually makes you money. The rest is eaten up by repetitive admin: chasing leads, updating spreadsheets, scheduling appointments, and sending the same emails over and over.

This "busywork" is the biggest hurdle to growth. It prevents you from taking on new clients, developing new services, or simply taking a well-deserved break.

The good news? Thanks to modern AI and automation tools, you don't need to hire extra staff to fix this. You just need a smarter system.

Here are the 7 most common admin tasks we help local businesses automate, giving them back hours every single week.

7 Admin Tasks You Should Automate Today

1. Lead Capture & Follow-Up (Speed-to-Lead)

• The Problem: Leads from your website form, Facebook, or Google are slow to be manually transferred and followed up, meaning they go cold quickly.

• The Automation: An instant workflow that captures the lead from any source, creates an entry in a Mini-CRM (like a connected Google Sheet), and immediately sends a personalised, branded WhatsApp or email reply.

• The Benefit: You contact new leads in seconds, not hours, dramatically increasing your conversion rate.

2. Appointment Scheduling & Reminders

• The Problem: Back-and-forth emails and phone calls just to book a simple consultation or service.

• The Automation: An AI Assistant that checks your calendar availability (e.g., Calendly), offers slots to the customer via WhatsApp, and automatically sends a reminder 24 hours before the appointment.

• The Benefit: Zero no-shows and your staff are never interrupted by booking calls.

3. Data Entry & Reporting

• The Problem: Manually copying customer details from a contact form into a spreadsheet or CRM.

• The Automation: A "data entry bot" that automatically parses information from forms or emails and updates your central database or reporting dashboard instantly.

• The Benefit: Eliminates human error and saves hours of tedious, repetitive data management.

4. Review Request Management

• The Problem: You finish a great job, but forget to ask the customer for a review.

• The Automation: A workflow that automatically waits 48 hours after a job is marked "complete" in your system, and then sends a friendly, automated text or email asking for a review on Google or Facebook.

• The Benefit: A steady stream of fresh, positive online reviews, boosting your local reputation and SEO.

5. Social Media Content Posting

• The Problem: Consistently posting engaging content on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn takes time you don't have.

• The Automation: A scheduling tool that allows you to pre-load content for the month, or even automatically posts content based on triggers (like a new blog post).

• The Benefit: Consistent branding and visibility without manual effort every day.

6. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

• The Problem: Your staff constantly answer the same repetitive questions about prices, opening hours, or service specifics.

• The Automation: An AI Assistant trained on your specific business knowledge that provides instant, accurate answers to common customer enquiries 24/7.

• The Benefit: Up to 70% fewer repetitive enquiries hitting your staff's inbox.

7. Internal Notifications & Alerts

• The Problem: Waiting for an approval, or needing to manually notify a team member when a high-priority lead comes in.

• The Automation: Approval chains and alerts that automatically notify the correct staff member (e.g., via WhatsApp or Slack) when a specific task is due, a lead reaches a certain stage, or an invoice is paid.

• The Benefit: Streamlines team communication and ensures urgent tasks are never missed.

Start Automating Today

Automation isn't about complexity; it's about simplicity and reclaiming your time. Every single business, from the local trades service to the online brand, can benefit from these quick-win automations.

Ready to stop trading time for tasks?

→ Book a free Automation Audit with Alevatex. We will review your current workload and identify the 3-5 quick-win automations that will save you the most time starting this week.