Free checklist
The holiday test for your automations
Find the automations that stop when one computer does, and move the worst one before anyone goes on vacation.
It only runs while one computer is on
Most small businesses have a few automations that only work while one computer is on, and no list of them.
A macro in someone’s spreadsheet. A script on the office manager’s PC. A recurring reminder in one person’s inbox. A browser extension that works while the tab is open.
When that machine is off, the job stops. Nothing errors, so nobody notices until a client asks. If it comes back on days later, a week of missed runs can land at once.
This check takes 30 minutes and finds the gaps before a holiday does.
Start here today
Ask each person on your team one question: “What happens in your work without you touching it?” Write every answer on one list. You can hand this step to anyone on the team.
Signs you need this
- Someone on your team says a report or reminder “usually” goes out.
- Several runs land at once after a computer comes back on, then nothing for days.
- You found out a task was skipped because a client asked about it.
- Nobody can say where a recurring job is set up without asking the person who built it.
The checklist
Find them
- Every automation the business relies on is on one list. Ask each person what happens without them touching it. Include spreadsheet macros, scheduled emails, browser extensions and anything that runs by itself.
- Each item has a name next to it. The person who set it up, or the person who would notice if it stopped. Who keeps it working after launch is its own question, covered in Who maintains an automation after it launches.
Where they run
- Each item says where its trigger lives. A cloud service, an always-on server, or a person’s device.
- Every item on a person’s device has an answer to one question. What happens if this device is off for a week? A holiday is the realistic test.
Use a table like this one:
| Automation | Who set it up | Where the trigger lives | Off for a week, then what? | Leaves a record? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Fix the worst one
- The item with the worst answer has its trigger moved somewhere that is always on. That can be the scheduler inside a tool like Zapier or Make, or a small cloud server.
- Every run leaves a record. A log line, a row in a sheet, a short email. You cannot count misses you cannot see.
- Someone compares the record against the calendar once a month. A missed run leaves no error message behind, so nobody goes looking. Lining the record up against the calendar is how the gaps show.
What about the cost
The usual objection is cost. A cloud scheduler or a small server runs a few dollars a month.
Set that against the work the automation was built to do, multiplied by the weeks it quietly skipped.
Done looks like
- Every automation is on one list, with where its trigger lives.
- Nothing important runs on one person’s device, or you have decided in writing that it can.
- The worst one has moved.
- Every run leaves a record, and someone checks it against the calendar.
Next step
Find the gaps before a holiday finds them for you.
The AI Readiness Audit maps how work moves through your business, including what runs on its own and where. You get a ranked list of what to fix first, before anything new gets built.
Or read how the audit works at davidjforer.com.