People ask me what automation actually looks like in practice. Not theory—the real workflows running right now across my businesses. So here's a peek behind the curtain.
I run everything through n8n, a self-hosted automation platform. It's like Zapier, but I own the data, and there are no per-task fees eating into margins. Here are the five workflows doing the heavy lifting.
The Core Workflows
When a lead comes in—from the website, Google, Facebook, wherever—this workflow catches it, enriches the data, scores it based on our criteria, and routes it to the right person.
The flow: Webhook receives lead → Check for duplicate → Enrich with Clearbit/Apollo → Score based on business size, location, urgency → Assign to team member → Create CRM record → Send Slack notification → Trigger follow-up sequence.
This one's simple but powerful. Every morning, it checks: who needs a follow-up today? Then it either sends an automated message or creates a task for personal outreach.
The logic: New lead? Day 1, 3, 7 automated emails. Hot lead? Daily task reminders until closed. Stale lead? Monthly check-in. Customer? Quarterly review prompt.
Before I even have coffee, this workflow has already compiled yesterday's numbers and sent them to my phone. Revenue, leads, appointments, outstanding invoices—all in one glance.
Data sources: QuickBooks for revenue, CRM for leads, Google Calendar for appointments, Stripe for payments. Output goes to Slack and email.
When a job is marked complete, the invoice goes out automatically. Payment reminders escalate from friendly to firm. Late payments get flagged for personal attention.
Sequence: Job complete → Generate invoice → Send via email → Day 3: Thank you if paid, reminder if not → Day 7: Second reminder → Day 14: Phone call task created.
Happy customers don't leave reviews unless you ask. This workflow asks at the perfect moment—after they've had time to appreciate the work, but before they forget.
Smart routing: If they click 4-5 stars, they go to Google. If they click 1-3, they go to a feedback form (so we can fix the issue privately).
The Total Impact
Adding it up: these five workflows save roughly 17+ hours per week. That's more than two full workdays recovered—every single week.
But the real value isn't the time. It's the consistency. Leads never fall through cracks. Follow-ups always happen. Invoices go out immediately. Reviews get requested.
Before automation, these things happened "when I remembered" or "when I had time." Now they just happen.
Why n8n?
I've used Zapier, Make, and a dozen other tools. I keep coming back to n8n for three reasons:
- Self-hosted = no per-task fees. At my volume, Zapier would cost $400+/month. My n8n server costs $20.
- Full control over data. Customer info never leaves my infrastructure.
- Complex logic is possible. Branching, loops, error handling—things that are painful in other tools.
The learning curve is steeper, but the payoff is worth it.
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