Automation5 min read
What to automate first, and what to leave alone
The first system you build decides whether anyone trusts the second one. Here is the test we run before a single workflow gets written.
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The blog 10 articles
What we learn building systems inside real companies.
Written for owners of companies with 10 to 100 people. Every article carries the arithmetic, so you can argue with it. No trend pieces, and nothing we would not say in a client meeting.
- Worked examples. Real shapes from real projects, with the numbers in the open.
- Opinions we defend. Including a list of things we tell clients not to build.
- Something to do tomorrow. Each piece closes with five actions you can run yourself.
01 Articles
Pick the problem you have this month.
Filter by subject, or search for the words you would use yourself. Every article is written by Hugo Cardellach.
JavaScript is switched off, so the filter is not available. Every article is still listed below with its subject and its date.
Operations5 min read
The real cost of a process that lives in one person's head
Every growing company has a Marta. She is not the problem. The fact that only she can do it is what caps your growth, and the bill arrives later than you think.
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AI5 min read
Why most AI projects in small companies never reach production
The pilot works. The demo gets applause. Then it quietly dies in month three. The failure is almost never technical, and it is predictable enough to design around.
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Sales4 min read
Speed to lead: what the first five minutes are actually worth
The best studied number in B2B sales is also the most ignored. Answer in five minutes instead of thirty and you are 21 times more likely to qualify the lead.
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Automation5 min read
Build inside your stack, or change your stack
Switching tools is expensive in ways nobody puts in the business case. Keeping a tool that fights automation is expensive too. Here is how we decide, and how you can.
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Operations4 min read
What an operations audit actually looks at
Most audits are a sales call with a slide deck. This is what a real one examines, what you should walk away holding, and how to judge whether it was worth the money.
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AI4 min read
AI agents or automations: the difference you are paying for
The words are used interchangeably by people selling both. They are different products with different running costs, and picking the wrong one is expensive in a specific way.
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Team4 min read
How to get a team to use a new system without a fight
Resistance is not stubbornness. It is a rational response to a change that costs someone time this week for a benefit they were promised next quarter.
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Operations4 min read
The only two kinds of system worth building
Everything we build either brings money in or takes cost and error out. Anything that does neither is a nice looking dashboard, and small companies should start with the first kind.
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Opinion4 min read
What we would tell you not to build
We turn down work most months. Not out of principle, but because some projects have a predictable ending and it is cheaper to say so before the invoice than after it.
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Nothing matches that. Try a shorter word, or to see all 10 articles.
02 From LinkedIn
Shorter, and written the same day.
The posts Hugo writes between client sessions. Two minutes each, usually one idea and one number.
The $40,000 spreadsheet
A finance manager built it in 2021. Nobody has been able to leave the company since.
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Nobody buys an automation
They buy the Tuesday where nothing catches fire. We just keep selling them the wiring.
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Your CRM is not the problem
Four migrations in six years and the pipeline is still wrong on a Friday. At some point the tool stops being the suspect.
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We said no to a build last month
The client had the budget and the enthusiasm. The project had an ending we could already see.
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More of these arrive first on LinkedIn.
AI & Operations Audit
Reading is cheap. Your numbers are more useful.
The audit is $150, credited in full against the first service you contract. Two working days later you hold a written plan: what costs you, ranked by return, with a KPI on every line.
Questions first? Write to team@braveautomations.com and a person answers, usually the same day.