The automation journey.

What is it?

I always read with interest, content that talks about business automation. Just a short while ago(a few yrs), I had no idea what "automation" meant or how one could use it in a "traditional" or even non-tech inclined business, as some one deeply focused in automating repetitive processes in life and in business, I wanted to share some insights that have helped me get more done in the same 24 hours we all have.

Whats my strategy?

Think about the "IF-THEN-ELSE" formula applied to business or life in general.

During COVID's peak, a company whose board I am on, took a lot of precautions with their employees as they are involved in the food services business and before better guidance was out there, they started testing every 4 days. They built a form where employees fill out info before getting tested. I asked them to build an integration with the lab test providers system, within our online form we have indicators for results the minute the lab processes them.

Positive negative alerts being sent to HR + downstream to managers + facilities and ensuring the wrong people don't get into work.

All this information exchange was manual and tiring, before the the form went online. Prior to this, the result being shared back by the lab was manual, some one called the companies HR, they then wrote down these results, then proceeded to call every one manually and instruct the facility manager who was allowed and who wasn't. This 4 day worth of automation work reduced hours of paperwork, kept all concerned safer and allowed the lab to do what it does best, do the test results and focus on patient care vs calling and informing. Also this reduces errors, Martin and Marteen are two completely different people as are Aly and Ali. Automation done right, is gods gift.

HOW TO START AUTOMATING?

It doesn't have to be super complex. Start looking at repetitive processes in your business. Look hard, follow people around, ask them what they do, make flow charts, see what can be removed by automating. Also ask the question, what happens if they don't come to work one day? Look at any thing and any one that doesn't take time off. That is a true automation opportunity because they have likely dominated the role and complicated some thing simple. Kill those roles and help re-train people to doing better things vs wasting their lives around tasks no one cares about.

The ROI for automating tasks is MASSIVE. Look at this chart from xkcd. This, on top of no more manual work, thus, no more mistakes!

Outcomes

Gary C. Halbert was a well-known (and well-paid) writer of successful direct-mail sales letters but he didn't start off with that, he was a very successful salesman. He made and lost a fortune in direct mailing and other business ventures… more than once.

In the early 1980s, Halbert went to Boron prison for tax fraud.

While he served his time in this minimum-security Club Fed, Gary Halbert wrote the letters in this book to his son Bond.Intending to give his son an education in the direct-mail marketing field, Gary Halbert’s letters cover a lot of business advice and general philosophies on life along with that.

At the end of each chapter, Bond throws his two cents in as well, shedding some light or expanding the topics in each letter.

What does this have to do with Outcomes? This is one of the best things you can read on the internet today. But since most of you may not the time to read the whole thing here are some insights that will ensure you go back to reading the above as they have the power to influence your outcomes.

TL;DR

1, How You Feel Affects How You Think

2, The Money Is Where The Enthusiasm Is

3, Get Paid Often

4, Be Skeptical About What People Say… And Watch What They Do

5, Customize Your Message

6, Tips On Letter Writing(A tool for better outcomes)

8, Envelopes(the carriage being as important as the message)

9, Research a Market — Don’t Try to Create It

10, AIDA— Attention, Interest, Desire, Action.

One New Thing (That I Learnt today)

William Stewart Halsted is considered to be a father of the modern "residency" program for doctors. He invented the system for doctors to work unending hours per shift, believing that immersion in care would provide better outcomes. He also used cocaine and worked 100+ hours a week routinely.

Boring stuff that Scales

ON time work guarantee

I am willing to bet my hat, that any one who starts a business that can provide a delivery date/time guarantee will win big. Which businesses can benefit from this?

1) Carpenters

2)Upholstery folks

3)Painters

4)In-Home Cleaners

5)Any-thing-you-hate-waiting-for

The premise is simple. We suck at estimating our work, especially in the trades. Like we really suck bad. People just can not, estimate how long it takes to get shit done. So if you can solve the estimation problem, you can get into the business of making promises. Trade related promises that ensure that you will get things done on time and on the agreed price can scale.

You do not need an app to keep your promise.

This is this weeks boring message. Find a boring old business and back it with a timeliness guarantee and thank me later. People hate their time being wasted. Contrary to popular belief the richer you are the more neutral you are to time wastage, but the worse of you economically time wastage actually costs you way more than rich people. In health outcomes, life outcomes etc. So timing based promise/work has a mass market appeal and scale vs as a service for rich people only. The most inexpensive stuff with this model layered on top targeted for mass market consumption can make you a run away success.

What you should be reading (reflecting upon)

There may be a few reasons people find estimating time to be difficult, but one common explanation is the planning fallacy. Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky proposed that people often focus more on the task ahead and ignore or forget their previous experiences. Even if someone knows they always spend 30 minutes to proofread a monthly report, according to the planning fallacy, they may believe they can finish it in 15 minutes next time.

Another reason people have a hard time estimating time might be optimism bias. People generally believe the future can be better than the past. Even if they have experienced the same event many times before, they still think they can outperform their past selves. Often, people plan for the best-case scenario rather than a more realistic scenario. For example, an employee working from home may estimate that it takes an hour to draft a proposal. However, they may not factor in interruptions from partners, children or phone calls that extend the project to two hours.

Get good at estimating by keeping these factors in mind:

• Time your tasks. Spend a week or longer tracking how long it takes to complete everything you do. This may help you understand how long you need to complete certain tasks, which can improve your ability to estimate time for future tasks.

• Use a fudge ratio. A fudge ratio is an estimate of how much you underestimate or overestimate the time you need for tasks. You can calculate it by dividing the number of hours it actually takes you to complete a task by the number of hours you thought it would take. Multiply future estimates by this ratio to create a more exact estimate.

• Overestimate your time requirements. Add 25-50% to your estimate so you have a higher chance of accurately estimating the time you need.

• Check your schedule. Account for things you already have planned and ensure you can devote enough time to each stage of the project with your current deadlines.

• Use a three-point estimation. Estimate the best-case scenario, the worst-case scenario and the most realistic scenario. Use these three data points to create a more accurate estimation.

• Get feedback. Ask for feedback from others, especially if they have done a similar project.

• Estimate someone else's time. Imagine how long you think it would take someone else to complete the task. People often estimate time more accurately for others than for themselves.

• Consider breaks. When you make your schedule, think about when you might need to take a break from your work, such as coffee breaks or meetings.

Monetize your time (by research)

Market research is an effective tool to assist your business planning. It is about collecting information that provides an insight into your customers thinking, buying patterns, and location. In addition, market research can also assist you to monitor market trends and keep an eye on what your competition is doing.

Wild guesses, are just that: Wild. They cant be tamed for great outcomes. Research based estimates typically stand the test of time and can allow you to monetize them.

We assume that humans have bad intuition for exponentials, but I wonder if it’s just because we don’t get enough training data/research (given the natural world has few exponentials). So how do we fix that? By researching and giving our selves enough data points to execute better. As a result likely have higher functioning intuition.

Essentially, training our brain for exponential could result in much better intuition.

A charitable interpretation of the original point is that we don't have sufficient exposure to exponentials in our day-to-day life.

We see way more examples of things going in straight lines than things moving exponentially. I doubt the average person pays attention to either apartment prices or city populations enough to learn intuition from them.

Though, this does make me wonder if founders of multiple exponentially growing startups would have better intuition ? What I do know is this, the more brain food you provide your self, the better your outcomes and research is my best friend along with staying curious. Go here to do better research if you are the curious type.

Made in Pakistan (Toxic Waste-Candy)

Not a day goes by that I marvel at the things for sale online on Amazon, Made in Pakistan. These candies have been going strong, but looks like they are contract manufactured in Pakistan for Candy Dynamics of Indiana.

Following are the US Customs Records Notifications available for Gujranwala Food Industries(PVT) Ltd, a supplier based in Pakistan.

Time to help manufacturers in Pakistan get in touch with brands in the US and help export things besides textiles.

For sale on amazon.com for 12$

One last thing

Never give up. The first version of every thing sucks, your outcomes are governed by your persistence and your ability to remove the suck from any situation.

Pixar has an entire philosophy around this about how to going from sucking to not sucking.

Read about it here

Pixar’s Motto: Going From Suck to Nonsuck