How We Automated 40 Hours of Manual Work at Authentic Education

When I started managing Authentic Education, I noticed our team was spending countless hours on repetitive tasks—data entry, follow-up emails, document organization. We were working hard, but not smart. This is the story of how we reclaimed 40 hours every week through automation.

The Problem

Our consultancy was growing. More students meant more applications, more documents, and more administrative work. Our small team was drowning in:

• Manual data entry from inquiry forms
• Sending the same welcome emails repeatedly
• Tracking application deadlines in spreadsheets
• Following up with students individually
• Organizing documents across multiple folders
• Creating reports for management

The breaking point came when we realized our counselors were spending more time on admin than actually counseling students.

The Solution: n8n

After evaluating several automation platforms, we chose n8n for several reasons:

1. 1Self-hosted - Data privacy was crucial (student information)
2. 2Visual workflow builder - Easy for non-technical team members to understand
3. 3Fair-code license - Sustainable business model
4. 4Extensive integrations - Connected all our tools

Workflow 1: Lead Intake Automation

Before: Manual form checking, data entry, email sending (2 hours/day)

After: Fully automated (5 minutes to verify)

The workflow triggers when someone fills out our inquiry form:

Form Submission → n8n
↓
Create CRM Entry (HubSpot)
↓
Send Welcome Email (Personalized)
↓
Create Task in Project Management (Notion)
↓
Send Slack Notification to Team
↓
Add to Email Sequence

Time saved: 10 hours/week

Workflow 2: Document Collection

Before: Chasing students for documents via email (15 hours/week)

After: Automated reminders with status tracking (1 hour/week)

We built a document portal where students upload required documents. The workflow:

1. 1Checks document status daily
2. 2Sends personalized reminders based on deadline proximity
3. 3Escalates to counselor if documents are overdue
4. 4Updates student record when documents are received
5. 5Generates completion reports for counselors

Time saved: 14 hours/week

Workflow 3: Application Status Updates

Before: Manual status checks across university portals (8 hours/week)

After: Automated monitoring with exception handling (30 minutes/week)

While we can't fully automate university portal checks (most don't have APIs), we created a hybrid system:

1. 1Daily automated reminders for counselors to check specific applications
2. 2Status update form that triggers notifications to students
3. 3Automated email to students when status changes
4. 4Dashboard showing all pending checks

Time saved: 7.5 hours/week

Workflow 4: Reporting and Analytics

Before: Manual data compilation for weekly reports (5 hours/week)

After: Automated dashboard updates (15 minutes/week)

This workflow:

1. 1Aggregates data from CRM, project management, and financial systems
2. 2Generates weekly reports automatically
3. 3Sends digest to management every Monday morning
4. 4Alerts when metrics fall below thresholds

Time saved: 4.75 hours/week

Implementation Tips

If you're considering automation for your consultancy:

Start Small

Don't try to automate everything at once. Pick one repetitive task and perfect it before moving to the next.

Document Everything

Create clear documentation for each workflow:

• What triggers it
• What it does
• Who to contact if it breaks
• How to modify it

Build for Failure

Assume things will break. Build in:

• Error handling
• Notifications when workflows fail
• Manual override options
• Regular backups

Train Your Team

Automation only works if your team trusts it:

• Show them how it works
• Explain what it does
• Give them visibility into automated processes
• Have a process for suggesting improvements

The Results

After 3 months of implementation:

Most importantly, our counselors can now focus on what they do best—helping students achieve their dreams.

Cost Breakdown

• n8n hosting: $20/month (self-hosted on DigitalOcean)
• Setup time: 40 hours (one-time)
• Maintenance: 2 hours/month
• Annual savings: 1,950 hours × $15/hour = $29,250

ROI: 1,200% in the first year

What's Next

We're now working on:

• AI-powered document verification
• Chatbot for common questions
• Automated visa application checking
• Integration with university APIs (where available)

Final Thoughts

Automation isn't about replacing humans—it's about removing friction so humans can do meaningful work. In our case, it meant counselors could spend time actually counseling instead of copying data between systems.

If you're running a consultancy drowning in admin work, I highly recommend exploring automation. Start with one workflow, prove the value, then expand.

Want to discuss automation for your consultancy? Let's talk.