Automate your business: pick the work first

By Jeremy Kenerson, Founder at BreadHead.

Facts checked October 7, 2026

Start automating your business by choosing a repeat task with a clear starting point and a result you can check. List what each task needs, what it should produce and who will review it. Rank the tasks by how clearly you can describe those parts, then pick one to try.

How do I automate my business?

List the work you repeat, then put tasks with clear inputs, outputs and review roles at the top. Leave tasks with unresolved questions on hold until you can explain how they should work.

Look through recent work with the people who did it. Ask which tasks came up again and what started each one. If you need to make that first list, use the one-page task inventory.

Give each task a narrow name, such as preparing a draft order summary. Ask what should count as a finished draft and where the source details would come from.

Build your shortlist in these steps:

1. Name the repeat task. Ask the person doing it to show you a recent input and the work they returned.
2. Record what starts it. Name the request, file or event you'd use, and where to find it.
3. Describe the output. Write what should be present when the task is done.
4. Name the reviewer. Ask that person what they'd need to check before accepting the work.
5. Mark any open questions. Ask who can answer them before you choose the task.
6. Put the clearest task first. Keep the others below it with a note on what still needs work.

Fill in a row for each task you're considering:

Keep that delivery question open until you've named the person who can answer it. If another task has no such gap and a clear review step, consider trying that task first.

Before choosing, check where a person needs to make a decision within the task. Use the decision-point worksheet to mark those points.

If your chosen work is bringing in a new client, map its stages after you've picked it. Use the onboarding process map for that next step.

Which tasks should stay with a person?

Keep judgment calls and final approval with a named person. Mark unclear inputs for a person to resolve before the task moves on.

Read each row of your shortlist as if you were assigning it today. Ask what you'd be trusting someone else to decide. Draw a line between preparing work for review and agreeing to a price, promise or change in scope.

Use this check:

• Can you show the starting input without having to explain an unwritten rule?
• What should happen if that input is blank or unclear?
• Which choices depend on your judgment about the customer or the job?
• Who can approve a new promise or change to the work?
• Can the reviewer compare the output with the original request?
• Where should the task pause while someone answers a question?

Add a short note to each row: Ready to try, Needs an answer or Keep with a person. Choose the note based on the task as you've described it. Don't treat a clear input as enough if you still can't say who approves the output.

If you want to make that task clearer, write down what the booking owner would need to decide. Ask where those details are kept. Leave the task on hold if you can't get them.

Beside your first choice, write why it comes first and where the work should wait if a person needs to decide.

Before choosing software, trace how the input would reach review. Use the input-to-review example to think through that route.

Pick a sample input and ask the intended reviewer to describe an acceptable output. If you disagree, settle that point before trying the task. Use the pilot acceptance sheet to record what you'll check.

Keep the shortlist focused on work you can describe and review. Use your shortlist to compare the best AI workflow automation tools.

With BreadHead, you review and approve the work before it goes public or into use.

What changed

• October 7, 2026: First version. Facts checked.