How much does workflow automation cost for a small business?

It depends on how many steps and tools are involved, and whether anything has to be built from scratch. Connecting two tools you already use costs far less than a system with custom software, a database and text messaging.

The main cost drivers are:

• how many tools need to talk to each other
• how clean your current data is
• whether a person has to approve steps along the way
• how many exceptions the process has

Ongoing costs are usually the tools themselves, such as a database, email or SMS provider, billed monthly by those companies rather than by the studio.

A good studio maps the process with you first and quotes the work in writing before anything is built. At Varadin, the quote comes after a first call about how your business runs today.

When you compare quotes, ask what happens after launch: who fixes problems, what changes cost, and who pays for the tools.