Your First Automation: What to Pick, and What to Avoid

Last checked: September 2026.

A first attempt at automation usually goes one of two ways. Some people pick something too ambitious, can't get it working, and decide automation isn't for them. Others automate something so small it saves barely any time and wasn't worth the effort. Both are avoidable. This guide explains how to choose a good first project and how to steer clear of the common mistakes.

What automation is good at

Automation works best on tasks that are repetitive, rule-based, and dull. If you find yourself doing the same steps over and over, the rules rarely change, and no real judgement is involved, that task is a strong candidate.

Good examples:

• Copying a form entry into a spreadsheet
• Sending the same "thanks, we've received your enquiry" reply
• Moving a file to the right folder when it arrives
• Getting a reminder for a task you do every week

Automation is poor at anything needing judgement, taste, or a personal touch. It can send a reminder, but it can't tell how a customer is feeling. Keep that distinction in mind and you'll choose well.

How to choose your first project

Ask three questions about any task you're considering:

1. Do I do this often enough to matter? A one-minute task you do 50 times a week is worth automating. A task you do twice a year usually isn't, however annoying it is.
2. Are the rules simple and unchanging? "Every new form entry goes in this sheet" is a simple, fixed rule. "Sort each enquiry by how promising it looks" needs judgement and isn't a good first project.
3. Could a careful assistant do it from written instructions? If yes, it can probably be automated. If you'd need to watch over their shoulder, it can't — not yet.

Pick the task where all three answers are clearly yes. Choose the most boring, reliable task rather than the most impressive one. Impressive can come later.

A good first project, step by step

Here is one that suits most small businesses: when someone submits your contact form, add them to a spreadsheet and send yourself an email alert.

It's a good choice because it happens often, the rules are simple, and the benefit is immediate — you stop missing enquiries. You can build it on a free plan (Make is a good place to start) with three steps: something that watches for a new form submission, a step that adds a row to your spreadsheet, and a step that emails you. It takes an afternoon to set up and saves you time every day afterwards.

Once it works and you trust it, you'll be ready to try the next one. That gradual build-up of confidence matters more than any single automation.

The reality check

This section covers what tends to go wrong, and how to avoid it.

Don't spend more time building it than it will ever save. It's easy to spend a whole afternoon automating a task that only took a few minutes a week. Before you start, do a simple sum: how long does this task take, how often, and how long will it take to set up and maintain? If it won't clearly save more time than it costs within a couple of months, treat it as a hobby project rather than a time-saver. Early on, stick to tasks where the benefit is obvious.

Keep it simple. Your first automation doesn't need to handle every possible exception. It needs to handle the normal case reliably. An automation that covers the common situation and flags the occasional odd one for you to deal with by hand is far better than a complicated one that tries to do everything, breaks often, and takes a week to build. Start simple. You can add more later, once the basic version has proved itself.

Make sure you'd notice if it stopped. The real risk with automation isn't that it breaks loudly — it's that it stops quietly. If an automation you assumed was running has actually been broken for three weeks, you could have missed enquiries or reminders without realising. Set it up so you'd know it's still working: have it email you now and then, or check its results against reality from time to time.

Fix the process before you automate it. Automation makes a task faster and more consistent. That's helpful when the task is done well and a problem when it isn't. If your enquiry follow-up is disorganised by hand, automating it just makes it disorganised faster. Get the manual version working sensibly first, then automate it.

Official pages to check

• Make pricing

This guide is independent and drafted with AI, then reviewed and fact-checked against hands-on experience with these tools before publishing (see How we make our guides). The tools mentioned are common starting points, not the only good options — the advice here applies whichever platform you choose.