A workflow description
template.
Copy this into a document. Fill in the bracketed bits. Send it to any builder before your first call. Ten minutes of writing saves three weeks of back-and-forth.
The biggest reason builds go wrong is that the builder never quite understood what the business actually does. Builders are not mind readers. They are, at best, careful listeners. You can shorten the listening part by writing the thing down first, yourself, in plain sentences.
This is the document I wish every client had already written when they emailed me. If you send this in first, a good builder’s reply will be specific on day one instead of week three. That alone saves you a few thousand dollars.
The template.
Copy the block below. Open a fresh document or a reply email. Paste it in. Fill in the bracketed bits with specific sentences. Do not dress it up. Keep it under a page.
MY BUSINESS What I do: [one sentence. "I help freelance photographers do their tax returns." Not "I am a trusted tax advisor for creatives."] How many people work here: [just me / me + N staff / me + N contractors]. Where I work from: [home / an office / client sites / all three]. THE PART I WANT TO HAND OVER Task: [what happens. Write it as a sentence a 10-year-old would understand.] Who does it now: [me / a staff member / a bit of both]. How often: [how many times per day/week/month]. How long it takes each time: [rough minutes/hours]. What triggers it: [an email? a phone call? a client walking in? a calendar event? end of the month?]. What "done" looks like: [the specific thing that exists when the task is finished. A sent email. A filed document. A line on a spreadsheet.] WHAT I USE TODAY For this task specifically: [email, Word, a CRM, pen and paper, a voice recorder, all of the above]. For my business in general: [Gmail / Outlook / other? which calendar? which accounting app? which place do I keep client files?]. My computer: [Mac / Windows / I mostly use my phone]. WHAT BOTHERS ME ABOUT IT The slow part: [which step of the task takes the longest? Which one do I put off?]. The mistake-prone part: [where do I most often notice something was typed wrong, missed, or sent to the wrong person?]. What it is costing me: [a guess is fine. "About 6 hours a week" or "I stopped doing this entirely because I hate it"]. WHAT I WOULD LOVE If it worked perfectly, what would change about my day: [one or two specific sentences. "I would stop working Sunday nights." "I would stop making the mistake I made last week."] WHAT I AM NOT LOOKING FOR Things I have tried and do not want to try again: [specific products, approaches, or conversations you have already had]. Hard lines: [things that cannot happen. "My client notes cannot leave my computer." "I am not paying a subscription." "I will not learn a new tool."]
The one rule for filling it in.
Builders cost real money. They are priced by the hour, or by the project, but the hourly rate is always implied. Vague briefs cost more than specific ones, because the builder has to spend billable time working out what you actually meant. A specific brief is the single cheapest thing you can do for your own budget.
When you catch yourself writing something abstract, stop and ask: what would a witness see? Rewrite it as that.
Good and bad descriptions, side by side.
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Bad: “I want to automate my intake process.”
Good: “Clients WhatsApp me with a photo of their problem. I copy the photo and the address into a spreadsheet, call them back to confirm a time, and put it in my calendar. I do this about five times a day. It takes me ten minutes each time.”
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Bad: “I need better client reporting.”
Good: “At the end of every month I send a two-page report to each of my 12 clients. The report has three sections. I copy the first section from their file in my CRM. The second section is a chart I have to rebuild from scratch each month. The third section is notes I keep in a Word document. It takes me a full Saturday.”
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Bad: “My data is sensitive.”
Good: “My clients are immigration applicants. Their files include passport scans and personal history. Nothing about these files can leave my computer. I am happy for non-client stuff (my invoices, my marketing) to use any tool.”
That is the whole piece.
Copy the template. Write your version this afternoon. Send it to two or three builders. The replies you get back will surprise you — in both directions. You will learn a lot about who you want to work with just from how they respond to a good brief.