How to stop copying information between systems
Useful whether or not you ever hire anyone. Including when automation isn't the answer.
The problem
The same customer, order or job gets typed into two, three or four places: the online shop, a spreadsheet, the accounts, a mailing list. It takes time, and every copy is a chance for a typo.
Why it happens
Most businesses pick each app for a good reason, one at a time. But apps from different companies rarely share information on their own, so a person becomes the link between them.
Your options
Can work, but usually means changing how you work and paying for a new system.
Better than retyping, but still a manual job someone has to remember.
Information moves between them automatically, using tools like Zapier or Make, with no new system to learn.
When automation makes sense
- ✓You copy the same information regularly, every day or week
- ✓Both apps are common, well-known business tools
- ✓Mistakes in the copying have caused problems
When it probably doesn't
- ✓It only happens a few times a year
- ✓One of the systems is very old or has no way to connect
- ✓You're about to replace one of the systems anyway
A practical example
A shop selling on two channels copied every order into a stock spreadsheet by hand. Both channels now feed the spreadsheet automatically.
See it →How Betechnical could help
If automation makes sense for you, this is exactly the kind of job I build, at a fixed price with a ceiling it can never go above. More about connecting your apps →
Common questions
Will I need to pay for extra software?
Often a connector tool like Zapier or Make, which has its own plans. Small jobs sometimes fit a free plan.
Is my data safe moving between apps?
It moves directly between accounts you own. Only what's needed is moved.
Not sure if yours can be automated?
Describe it to Bea, and you'll get an honest answer and a ballpark price in about a minute. If it isn't worth automating, I'll say so.