Find the bottlenecks in a process
A practical way to use AI for this job in a small business, with a prompt you can copy.
Jobs keep running late, customers keep chasing you, and you're working nights to catch up. You know something in the process is broken. You just can't see what from inside it.
The prompt
Here's how a job moves through my business from enquiry to payment: [describe each step and who does it]. Identify the likely bottlenecks, steps that could be automated or templated, and the one change that would save the most time.
Replace everything in [square brackets] with your own details. Don't paste in anything you wouldn't want stored by the AI provider.
Steps
- Describe the process honestly, warts and all.
- Run the prompt.
- Pick one change and try it for a month.
- Repeat.
A worked example
A Perth kitchen renovation business writes out every step from first enquiry to final invoice, with roughly how long each takes and where things wait. Claude identifies the bottlenecks: quotes take five days because measurements are typed up manually, and installs wait on the owner signing off orders.
Suggestions include a measuring template on a tablet and letting the senior installer approve orders under $2,000. Those two changes cut a week off the average job. No new software needed.
Where it goes wrong
AI recommends software for everything. Often the fix is a simple rule change, like who approves what. It also only knows what you tell it, so ask your team where they get stuck. They usually know.
Time saved
Hard to estimate; it depends on the bottleneck. But fixing one often saves hours every week, permanently. These are my estimates for a typical small business, not measured results.
What it costs (AUD)
Free plans are fine for mapping a process.
The free plans of ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini handle this fine. If you end up using AI every day, the paid plans are roughly: ChatGPT Plus approx. A$30 a month, Claude Pro approx. A$29 a month billed monthly (US$20, or about A$24 a month if you pay yearly), and Google AI Pro approx. A$33 a month through the App Store. Prices approx., October 2026. Some are billed in US dollars, so your bank may add a foreign transaction fee. Check the vendor's pricing page before you buy.
Australian notes
If you change who approves spending, update any internal controls and make sure your bookkeeper knows. If process changes affect staff duties, consult them first, and check employment agreements and awards if hours or roles change significantly.
Privacy: the Privacy Act and the Australian Privacy Principles (APPs) cover most businesses turning over more than $3 million, plus some smaller ones such as health providers. Even if you're under the threshold, treat customer details with care: strip names, phone numbers and addresses before you paste anything into an AI tool.
Want this to happen automatically? See the step-by-step guide on our sister site: How to set up a bot without breaking things: a checklist.
My verdict
The best place to start if you don't know where AI fits. It points you at your next bot.
Common questions
What's a bottleneck?
The step where work piles up waiting. Fix that and everything after speeds up.
Do I need to map every process?
No. Start with the one that causes the most complaints or late nights.
Can AI fix the process for me?
It can suggest fixes. You and your team decide what actually works.
Do this today
Write down every step of your most painful process, start to finish, with how long each takes. Ask AI where the wait is.
More operations use cases
Next: Write a month of social media post ideas · All operations · Want a bot to do this automatically? See bot setup guides.