Steps
- Open
leak-worksheet.csvbelow in a spreadsheet, or copy the columns onto paper. - List the repeating jobs in your business that are done by hand. One job per row. Start with the ones that annoy you most.
- For each job, write how many times a month it happens and how many minutes each time takes.
- The
hours_per_monthcolumn does the math for you: times per month, times minutes, divided by 60. - Answer the two readiness questions for each row: is it done the same way every time, and does it repeat every month. Write yes or no.
- Add up
hours_per_monthfor the rows where both answers are yes. That total is your leak. - Multiply the total by 12. That's the hours a year the leak costs you. Divide by 8 to see it in working days.
Worked example (made-up business)
Job: check each vendor invoice against what was spent
Times per month: 40
Minutes each time: 20
Hours per month: 40 x 20 / 60 = 13.3
Same way every time: yes
Repeats every month: yes
Job: prepare the yearly tax pack
Times per month: 1
Minutes each time: 300
Hours per month: 5.0
Same way every time: yes
Repeats every month: no (it happens once a year, leave it out of the leak)
Leak = 13.3 hours a month = 160 hours a year = 20 working days.Is the job ready to automate?
Run every job you counted through these four checks before you spend anything on it.
1. Written down. Can you write the steps on one page? If you can't, the process isn't ready. Write it down first.
2. Same way twice. Do two different people do it the same way? If not, agree one way first. Automating a mess only makes the mess faster.
3. Stable. Has the process stayed the same for the last few months? If it changes every few weeks, wait. A moving target costs a lot to build and even more to keep fixing.
4. Frequent. Does it happen often enough to matter? A job you only do once in a while stays by hand until it happens more.
If a job fails any one of these, fix that first. Then it counts toward your leak.The question the total answers
Not: what does the build cost?
But: what does the leak already cost me every month, and is it worth more to fix it once?If you'd like the written audit to run this math on your own business: otimizagency.com/audit