Your Business Isn't Too Custom - Your Tasks Are Too Manual

"Our business is too custom for automation."

I hear this weekly. And I get it-your industry has quirks, your clients have specific needs, your processes evolved organically over years. It feels unique.

But here's what I've learned after building 200+ workflows across 6+ industries: the tasks are almost always the same.

The universal patterns:

Every business I've worked with-agencies, e-commerce, SaaS, consulting, manufacturing-does some version of these:

• Receives information (forms, emails, calls)
• Processes that information (validates, categorizes, routes)
• Creates outputs (documents, notifications, updates)
• Follows up (reminders, status checks, escalations)

The content is custom. The structure isn't.

Your proposal process might be unique to your industry, but "take input → apply template → send for review → track status" is universal. That's automatable.

Where the "too custom" belief comes from:

Usually, it's because someone tried a generic tool and it didn't fit perfectly. So they concluded automation doesn't work for them.

The truth? They needed custom configuration, not custom software. There's a massive difference in cost and complexity.

What actually needs to be custom:

• The specific fields you collect
• The logic for routing decisions
• The templates for outputs
• The triggers and conditions

What doesn't need to be custom:

• The automation platform (Make, n8n, Zapier all work)
• The integrations (your tools already have APIs)
• The fundamental workflow patterns

The real question:

Instead of "is our business too custom?" ask "which specific tasks require human judgment, and which are just moving data around?"

Data movement, formatting, notifications, basic categorization, status updates-these aren't custom. They're just manual.

And manual work at scale is expensive work.

Your business complexity is a competitive advantage. Don't let it become an excuse for inefficiency.