Small businesses don’t usually struggle because they lack ideas. They struggle because time gets consumed by “tiny” tasks that never end: copying data between apps, chasing invoices, scheduling calls, sending follow-ups, pulling reports, and posting content. Those minutes compound into lost revenue and slower growth.
A Slack study shared by Salesforce found that small business owners lose an average of 96 minutes of productivity every day, which adds up to about three weeks of lost time per year (Salesforce, 2024). Intuit’s 2024 QuickBooks Business Solutions Survey reported that respondents said their businesses spend 25 hours per week on manual data entry or reconciling data across apps (Intuit, 2024). When you’re bleeding hours like that, automation isn’t a “nice extra”—it’s a profit lever.
Below are seven automation tools (and what they’re best at), with practical examples so you can implement them quickly and start saving time within days—not months.
1) Zapier (Fast, no-code automation between apps)
Website: https://zapier.com/
Zapier is the easiest way to connect your day-to-day tools and automate repetitive steps without code. If your workflow involves “when X happens in one app, do Y in another,” Zapier is built for that. It’s especially useful for small business operations because it turns scattered processes into reliable systems that run automatically.
A simple, high-impact setup is lead capture automation. When someone fills out a contact form, Zapier can instantly create a new CRM record, send an email confirmation, add the lead to a follow-up sequence, and notify your team. That prevents leads from sitting unseen for hours—where they often go cold.
Zapier also shines for admin reduction. If you’re still manually taking info from emails and moving it into spreadsheets, task boards, or CRMs, you’re paying a “time tax” every day. Zapier removes that tax by doing the transfer automatically and consistently, reducing both labor time and human errors.
Best automations to start with:
- Form submission → CRM contact + Slack notification
- New appointment booked → onboarding email + task creation
- Paid invoice → CRM update + welcome workflow trigger
2) Make (Visual workflows with advanced logic and branching)
Website: https://www.make.com/en
Make is the next level up when you want more control than basic “if this, then that.” It’s a visual automation builder that lets you add branching logic, filters, error handling, and multi-step scenarios that mimic how an operations person would think.
If you’ve ever said, “We can automate this… but only if the customer is in this category,” or “We need to check three things before moving forward,” Make is ideal. It can route leads differently depending on service interest, assign tasks based on geography, or enrich data by checking multiple sources before deciding what happens next.
Make often saves money because it reduces your need for custom development. Many workflows that used to require a developer can be built visually and maintained by a marketer or operations manager. That matters because small businesses don’t just need automation—they need automation they can actually maintain.
Best automations to start with:
- Multi-step onboarding with conditional branching
- Data cleanup and enrichment (Sheets, Airtable, CRM sync)
- Automated reporting: pull from multiple apps into one dashboard
3) HubSpot (CRM + marketing + sales automation in one platform)
Website: https://www.hubspot.com/
HubSpot is powerful because it combines CRM, marketing automation, and sales workflow tools in one ecosystem. The savings come from eliminating tool-hopping and keeping lead handling consistent across your team. When your CRM and marketing automation live together, follow-ups happen faster, deal stages stay cleaner, and the customer experience feels intentional.
A common revenue leak in small businesses is inconsistent follow-up. One person is on it; another forgets. HubSpot helps you standardize the process so leads don’t fall through the cracks. You can automatically assign owners, trigger sequences, schedule tasks, and alert your team when a lead takes a key action—like opening emails multiple times or visiting a pricing page.
HubSpot is also a strong automation hub when you want to centralize operations. Instead of stitching together multiple tools to do one job, HubSpot can often handle the CRM, pipeline, email nurturing, and internal notifications in one place—reducing software overlap and complexity.
Best automations to start with:
- Lead capture → assign owner + start nurture sequence
- Deal moved to “Won” → trigger onboarding + invoice request
- Inactive leads → automatic re-engagement sequence
4) ActiveCampaign (Behavior-based email and customer journey automation)
Website: https://www.activecampaign.com/
ActiveCampaign is built for automations that respond to real customer behavior. Instead of blasting the same message to everyone, you can trigger personalized sequences based on what someone clicks, buys, ignores, or visits.
This is where automation becomes a direct money saver. You don’t just save time—you increase revenue per lead because follow-ups become smarter. For example, if someone clicks a pricing link but doesn’t book a call, ActiveCampaign can automatically send a short sequence that answers objections and prompts scheduling. If a customer completes onboarding, it can transition them into upsell, referral, or retention automations.
If your business relies heavily on email for leads, appointments, or repeat business, this tool pays for itself quickly. It replaces manual segmentation, list cleanup, and one-off follow-ups with a system that runs continuously in the background.
Best automations to start with:
- Welcome sequence with branching based on interest
- Abandoned booking follow-up
- Win-back sequence for inactive subscribers or customers
5) RSSMasher (Automated content curation and publishing)
Website: https://www.rssmasher.com/
Content creation is one of the biggest recurring time drains for small businesses—especially for SEO-focused sites that need consistent publishing. RSSMasher automates content sourcing and publishing so you’re not starting from scratch every time.
The biggest benefit is consistency without burnout. You can set rules, choose sources, define what gets pulled, and schedule publishing. Used properly, it becomes an always-on content engine that supports your marketing while freeing your team to focus on sales and customer service.
This is especially valuable when managing multiple websites or location pages. Automation helps maintain regular publishing without hiring additional writers or spending hours formatting and uploading posts manually.
Best automations to start with:
- Curate niche articles and schedule weekly posts
- Build topic categories with supporting content clusters
- Feed-based publishing to keep multiple properties updated
6) QuickBooks Online (Automated invoicing, reconciliation, and reporting)
Website: https://quickbooks.intuit.com/online/
Accounting is one of the easiest areas to win with automation. The tasks are repetitive, time-sensitive, and prone to error when done manually. When invoicing and reconciliation are delayed, cash flow suffers.
Intuit’s 2024 QuickBooks Business Solutions Survey found that respondents spend 25 hours per week on manual data entry or reconciling data across systems (Intuit, 2024). QuickBooks Online automates recurring invoices, categorizes transactions using bank feeds and rules, sends reminders, and generates reports automatically.
When combined with automation tools like Zapier or Make, you can create a full revenue workflow: deal won → invoice created → payment received → onboarding triggered → internal notification sent. This directly saves time and accelerates cash collection.
Best automations to start with:
- Recurring invoices with automatic reminders
- Bank feed rules for expense categorization
- Monthly reports delivered automatically
7) Calendly (Scheduling automation that protects your time)
Website: https://calendly.com/
Scheduling is a hidden productivity killer. The back-and-forth alone can waste hours each week, and missed meetings can mean lost opportunities. Calendly removes that friction by letting people book time based on your availability rules, while automatically handling confirmations, reminders, time zones, and buffers.
The real power shows up when scheduling becomes part of a larger automated journey. Someone books a call, receives reminders and an intake form, your CRM updates, your team is notified, and a follow-up sequence begins. This reduces no-shows and creates a smoother experience for prospects.
Calendly also helps protect deep work. You can limit meetings per day, enforce buffers, and control booking windows so your calendar doesn’t turn into chaos.
Best automations to start with:
- Booking confirmation, reminders, and intake forms
- Routing by meeting type or service
- Post-call follow-up automation
Turn Automation Into a Competitive Advantage, Not Just a Convenience
Automation is no longer about doing more with less—it’s about doing the right work while systems handle everything else. When repetitive tasks are removed from your day, your focus shifts to strategy, customer relationships, and growth instead of busywork. Even implementing just one or two of the tools above can immediately reclaim hours each week, reduce costly errors, and create a smoother experience for both your team and your customers. The businesses that win moving forward won’t be the ones working longer hours—they’ll be the ones building smarter systems that run consistently, scale efficiently, and free humans to do what automation never can.
References
Salesforce. (2024, August 14). Small business productivity trends: Slack study. https://www.salesforce.com/news/stories/small-business-productivity-trends-2024/
Intuit. (2024). QuickBooks 2024 business solutions survey. https://quickbooks.intuit.com/r/enterprise/business-solutions-survey-2024/
