Automate IT Fall 2025

Description

Do you spend time thinking about how there “has to be an easier way”, there “has to be a more effective way”, or there has to be something that can “do this thing better and faster than me”? As a small business owner, you most likely think about this a lot but may not know where to start to figure it out!

In this 8-week cohort, facilitated by Tara Servilio, we will work from the point of view that implementing some targeted technology-based changes can support our business goals. We will also work from the point of view that we have limited resources, including time, capacity, and financial means to do this with. Your goals may be to streamline, create efficiencies, focus your time differently, increase awareness and sales, organize your finances better, or just generally increase your capabilities to run the business from end-to-end.

Our objective is to: Identify areas that could benefit from technology, and define what that technology is, How technology will work within your business, Focus on both front of house and back of house. We will alternate between Workshop Sessions, where we learn and discuss concepts and tools, and Lab Sessions, where we spend time focused on applying the learning to our business. You will leave the cohort with a support network, as well as, a clearly defined end-to-end view of what, where, why, and how you want to implement technology into your business. This program is for Maine-based business owners who are currently in-business. Program Outline: Define End-to-End Operations: We start by mapping out our businesses current end-to-end operations, and the most important points of action within those. We will focus on identifying manual actions, and if those should stay as is, or evolve into a more standardized or automated action. Identify Areas of Opportunities: Through the definitional work done above, you will identify where there are pain points, constraints, and opportunities for technology to support these activities. Again, keeping in mind if that activity is best supported by being manual, standardized, and / or automated in some way. Plan and Budget for Change: Having clearly understood what you need to focus on, we will work to identify technologies and options to fit your needs, and begin to plan the time, and resources required to make it happen, including vendors, money, and knowledge.