Workflow improvement for small businesses and teams
Fix the workflow.
Build only what’s needed.
I help small businesses and teams remove friction from the way they work. Sometimes the answer is a better process. Sometimes it’s automation. Sometimes there’s a missing tool between two systems, so I build it. I start with the problem, not the technology.
Approach
Start with the workflow.
Understand
How does the work actually happen?
Not the process on paper. The real work, workarounds included.
Simplify
What can be removed, changed or standardised?
Most friction should go before anything gets built.
Build, if needed
What is still missing?
An automation, a connection, a form, a small tool, an interface or a website.
Test
Does it work better?
On real work, with the people doing it.
The goal is not more software. The goal is less friction.
Case study
Card Sorter
One freelancer’s bookkeeping, before and after.
- Card statement
- Copy by hand
- Categorise by hand, for days
- Bookkeeping
- Card statement
- Card Sorter
- Bookkeeping
- Problem
- A freelancer was spending days categorising business card transactions by hand.
- Decision
- Simplifying the process was not enough. The repetitive step needed a small tool.
- Intervention
- Card Sorter reads the statement, organises transactions and learns from corrections. Built around his real workflow, improved while he used it.
- Evidence
- Used on almost 700 real transactions.
Have a step like this?
Problems
Sound familiar?
“Too much copying between systems.”
Usually the answer is one fewer manual transfer, not another system.
“The systems work, except for one horrible manual step.”
Often the exact place for a small bridge between tools.
“We keep doing the same admin again and again.”
First check whether the work should exist. Then automate what remains.
“Our customer intake has become messy.”
Map the actual handoffs, remove the unnecessary ones, then decide whether a form or a tool is needed.
“We think we need software, but we’re not sure.” Good. Let’s find out before anyone builds anything.
Why me
The part between the recommendation and the build.
- A process consultant
- Can diagnose the workflow and recommend what should change.
- A developer
- Can build the solution.
- Me
- I work across both: understand what is actually happening, decide what should change, and build the missing piece when that is the right answer.
Booking.com · Rituals · VanMoof · Hitachi
Years of process improvement, finance transformation, operational workflows, systems and automation inside these companies.
From the Lab
- Pare Gala (opens in a new tab)shared grocery list for families
- HonestCal (opens in a new tab)calorie estimates with confidence instead of fake precision
- Chroma (opens in a new tab)family photos turned into colouring pages
About
Contact
Got a workflow that drives you mad?
Show me what’s clunky and where the work gets stuck, in your own words.
I’ll reply with a few questions. If I think I can help, I’ll tell you what I’d tackle first and what working together could look like.
Prefer email? panos@darasflow.com