return on investment from automation, automation payback or automation savings
Automation ROI is the return a business gets from automating a process compared with what it costs to build and run. A simple estimate is hours saved each month times the hourly cost of the people doing the work.
Automation ROI is whether an automation is worth it. You compare what it saves, mostly people's time and fewer mistakes, with what it costs to build, run and look after.
A simple estimate: hours saved each month, times the hourly cost of the people who did the work, minus the monthly cost of the tools. Then see how many months it takes to pay back the build.
Some benefits are harder to count but still real, like faster replies to leads, fewer missed steps and less stress for the team.
Before I build anything, I ask the team how often the job happens and how long it takes. That gives me a rough monthly saving and makes it easy to rank ideas.
I always count the running costs too: extra Zapier tasks, plan upgrades and the time to look after it. An automation that saves an hour a month but breaks every week isn't worth it.
Made-up numbers to show the method.
Work out the hours saved each month, multiply by the hourly cost of the people doing it, take off the monthly tool costs, and compare that with the build cost.
It depends on the business, but jobs that happen daily often pay back quickly. Rare jobs rarely do.
Running costs like extra tasks or plan upgrades, and the time to fix and update automations when apps change.
I set these up and train your team, in your own ClickUp or Zapier account.
Book a callContact Jack - jack@withtoki.co.uk