Enquiry to spreadsheet
Every website enquiry becomes a row in a sheet with name, service and date, plus a message to your phone.
AI for business · Part 7 of 7
AI automation for small business: where to start
If you copy the same information between two apps every day, software can do it for you. With AI in the middle, it can read and draft as well.
What automation means
When this happens, do that.
Every small business has jobs that are pure copying. A form arrives, so you type the details into a spreadsheet. An invoice is paid, so you send a thank-you. A booking comes in, so you add it to the calendar. Automation tools do this for you. You set a trigger (something happens in one app) and one or more actions (things that should then happen in other apps).
AI adds a step that used to be impossible: reading. An automation can now read an incoming email, work out whether it is an enquiry, a complaint or spam, pull out the name and date, and write a draft reply. That is the difference between moving data and handling it.
The tools
Four ways to connect your apps.
Links go to each provider. All four have free plans or trials.
Easiest to startZapierThe largest library of app connections and the gentlest learning curve. Has AI steps and agents.zapier.com ↗Visual and flexibleMakeYou draw the workflow as a diagram. Good for branching logic at a lower cost per run.make.com ↗Technical teamsn8nOpen source. Can run on your own server, which keeps data in your hands. Strong AI features.n8n.io ↗Microsoft 365Power AutomateMicrosoft's automation tool. A natural choice if you live in Outlook, Teams and SharePoint.microsoft.com/en-gb/power-platform/products/power-automate ↗
If nobody in the business is technical, start with Zapier. If you outgrow it or the bill climbs, Make is the usual next step. n8n suits a business with a developer or an IT partner. All of them have a free plan that is enough to build and test your first workflow.
Try it
Design your first automation.
Build a workflow
Choose a trigger, an AI step and an action to see the workflow and how to set it up.
1. When this happens
2. Let AI
3. Then do this
Six to start with
Small, safe and worth having.
Draft replies waiting for you
AI reads each enquiry and saves a draft reply in your mailbox. You edit and send.
Invoice reminders
Seven days after an invoice is due, a polite reminder goes out. Paid invoices are skipped.
Meeting actions to tasks
Actions from your meeting notes become tasks with an owner and a date.
Review alerts
A new review arrives, the team is told, and a draft response is prepared for you to approve.
Weekly summary
Every Friday, a short email: enquiries received, jobs booked, invoices outstanding.
How to build one
Four steps, in this order.
Write it down
Describe the job in one sentence: “When X happens, do Y.” If you cannot, it is not ready to automate.
Build with test data
Use a pretend enquiry and your own email address until every step works.
Keep a person in it
Start with drafts and notifications. Let it send by itself only after weeks of correct results.
Check the log
Look at the run history weekly. Automations fail quietly when an app changes.
Agents
AI that takes several steps by itself.
An AI agent is an assistant that is given a goal and tools, and decides its own steps: read the inbox, look up the customer, check the calendar, write the reply. Zapier, Make and n8n all offer agent features, and so do the main assistants.
Agents are useful and still unpredictable. A fixed workflow does the same thing every time; an agent may not. For a small business the safe pattern is: fixed workflow for anything that sends, pays, deletes or books, and agents for research and preparation where a person reviews the result.
Keep it safe
Automations handle real data.
- Personal data travels. Each tool in the chain receives what you pass through it. Check where it is stored and use business plans where customer details are involved.
- Least access. Connect only the accounts and folders the workflow needs.
- Nothing irreversible without approval. Payments, deletions and messages to customers should wait for a person until you trust the workflow.
- Write down what you built. One line per automation in a shared document: what triggers it, what it does, who owns it.
If you would rather have this built and looked after for you, that is part of what we do: see AI integration and custom software.
Keep going
More in this series.
Part 1 of 7A daily AI routineWhere to start, which assistant to pick, and a routine that fits a normal working day.Part 2 of 7How to write promptsThe five parts of a prompt that gets a useful answer first time, with a builder you can copy from.Part 3 of 7Email and enquiriesSummarise long threads and draft replies in your own voice, without sounding like a robot.
All seven guides: AI for business, the full series.
FAQ
Questions we get asked.
Short answers, in plain English.
What is the easiest automation tool for a non-technical person?
Zapier is the usual starting point: it connects the most apps and needs no code. Make is a close second and often cheaper once you run many workflows.
Do I need to know how to code?
No. Zapier, Make and Power Automate are built for people who do not code. n8n is friendlier to technical users.
What is the difference between automation and an AI agent?
An automation follows fixed steps every time. An agent is given a goal and chooses its own steps. Automations are predictable; agents are flexible and need more supervision.
What should I automate first?
The job you do most often that involves copying information from one place to another, such as website enquiries into a spreadsheet with a notification.
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