11 Automation Tools to Unstick the Sticky Bits of Business

Spoiler: You don’t need to be a tech wizard — you just need the right tools in the right places.

Running a business (or two) means living in a sea of sticky admin: posting on socials, answering the same customer questions, wrangling inventory, trying not to scream at your bank feed.

But what if I told you there are tools that can pull you out of the weeds — and keep the wheels turning without you in the driver’s seat 24/7?

So, whether you’re a product-based powerhouse, a service-based strategist, or wearing both hats like me — here are 11 automation tools I recommend to take the stickiness out of business.

💡 PS: Want the full list of what I use across both my brands? Check out my Little Black Book of Tools — your shortcut to tried-and-tested tech that works.

1. Social Media Management

Sticky Bit: Keeping up with consistent posting, engagement, and analytics.

Tools to Try:

• Metricool, Later or Buffer – Schedule your content across Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest and more.

• Hootsuite – Manage multiple platforms and get detailed analytics in one place.

• Canva Pro Scheduler – Create visuals and schedule posts directly from Canva.

Pro Tip: Use analytics to see when your audience is most active — then create accordingly.

2. Email Marketing and Customer Retention

Sticky Bit: Manually sending newsletters, promos, and abandoned cart reminders.

Tools to Try:

• Klaviyo – E-commerce powerhouse for segmentation, automation, and revenue tracking.

• Mailchimp – Good for basic automation and newsletters.

• Yotpo – Great for growing product brands and custom email journeys, including reviews and rewards to round out the retention cycle. 

Pro Tip: Set up abandoned cart flows — they recover sales on autopilot.

3. Customer Service and Communication

Sticky Bit: Repetitive questions, late replies, and inbox dread.

Tools to Try:

• ManyChat – Automate DMs in Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp.

• Gorgias – Organise and respond to customer queries with ticketing and macros.

• Tidio – Combine live chat with automated replies for FAQs.

Pro Tip: Build a chatbot to answer your top five questions and free up your energy for the juicy stuff.

4. Inventory and Order Management

Sticky Bit: Overselling, out-of-stock panic, and clunky manual updates.

Tools to Try:

• Cin7 Omni – A serious system for tracking stock in real-time across multiple channels, including EDI. 

• Cin7 Core – Centralises inventory and sales orders for multiple marketplaces and platforms. 

• Shopify Inventory – Built-in inventory tracking that works well for Shopify-only stores.

Pro Tip: Automate low-stock alerts to stay ahead of reorders — your customers will thank you.

5. Financial Management

Sticky Bit: Manually invoicing, chasing payments, and reconciling accounts.

Tools to Try:

• Xero – My go-to. It automates bank feeds, invoicing, payroll, and more.

• QuickBooks – Comprehensive accounting for businesses of all sizes.

• Dext – Makes expense tracking and reimbursements way less painful.

Pro Tip: Use recurring invoices for subscription services or retainers — never forget to bill again.

6. Project and Task Management

Sticky Bit: Missed deadlines, lost tasks, and too much in your head.

Tools to Try:

• Trello – Visual project boards for simple task management.

• Asana – More robust task tracking with team assignments and deadlines.

• ClickUp – Ultra-customisable workflows that scale with you.

• Monday - My Personal Favourite (more on that below) 

Pro Tip: Automate recurring tasks — monthly reports, inventory checks, content scheduling — so they’re never forgotten.

7. Marketing and Lead Generation

Sticky Bit: Finding leads, following up, and staying visible.

Tools to Try:

• HubSpot – CRM + marketing automation powerhouse.

• ActiveCampaign – Affordable automation for lead nurturing and email marketing.

• Zapier – The “connector” tool that links up your apps and automates actions.

Pro Tip: Pair a lead magnet with an automated email sequence to build trust and convert.

8. Scheduling and Booking

Sticky Bit: Endless back-and-forth to find a meeting time.

Tools to Try:

• Calendly – Easy-to-use link to book directly into your calendar.

• Acuity Scheduling – Perfect for coaches, consultants, or service bookings.

• YouCanBook.Me – Another great option for syncing bookings across calendars.

Pro Tip: Add automated email or SMS reminders to reduce no-shows.

9. Reporting and Analytics

Sticky Bit: Manually pulling data from ten platforms and pretending it makes sense.

Tools to Try:

• Google Data Studio – Live dashboards from Google Analytics, Sheets and more.

• Supermetrics – Aggregate data from multiple platforms into one spot.

• Xero - for all things financial reporting and cashflow insight. 

Pro Tip: Set up automated weekly reports to land in your inbox Monday morning — with your coffee, not your chaos.

10. File Storage and Sharing

Sticky Bit: Lost documents, messy folders, and endless “just checking you got this?” emails.

Tools to Try:

• Google Workspace – Share and edit docs in real time.

• Dropbox – Store large files and collaborate with team or clients.

• Notion – A powerful mix of document storage, wikis, and project management.

Pro Tip: Use Zapier to automate file backups across your systems — no more "oops."

11. All-in-One Ops Management (My Secret Weapon)

Sticky Bit: Chaos across tasks, teams, timelines, and tools. Everything’s technically working… but nothing’s connected.

Tool to Try:

• Monday.com – This is the business OS that keeps both of my companies running like clockwork. One’s a product-based eCommerce brand. One’s a service and strategy consultancy. And I manage both through Monday like an absolute pro.

Here’s what I use Monday.com for:

• Planning content across two brands

• Tracking stock and supplier timelines for Clubdayze

• Running client onboarding, launches, and reports for Bec Laut

• Automating recurring tasks (like content creation and weekly team meetings)

• Centralising everything so my team knows where to find it, and what to do next

Pro Tip: Link your boards using automation recipes — when a task moves in one board, it automatically creates the next step in another. It’s like having a digital operations assistant without the salary.

💥 Want to see what it’s like for yourself?
Try it free via my link here: https://try.monday.com/beclaut

Final Thought: Don’t Automate Everything. Just the Right Things.

This isn’t about becoming a robot. It’s about protecting your time and giving yourself a fighting chance to grow instead of just get through the day.

Start small. Automate one sticky bit. Watch the hours come back. Then automate the next.
And if you want help figuring out what to do first?

👉 Book an Empower Hour with me.
We’ll map out your bottlenecks, match you to the right tools, and get you moving without the overwhelm.

Want me to format this into a Kajabi-ready blog with sections, buttons, feature images, and smart SEO tagging? Or would you like a carousel version of this for Instagram? Happy to prep it all.

Explore More Tools

Take a peek inside my Little Black Book of Tools
View the Tools