Operations and Admin Automation
Automate invoicing, scheduling, project management, and the admin tasks that eat your billable hours. Build systems that run your business efficiently.
The Admin Tax
In the previous lesson, we explored client acquisition and proposals. Now let’s build on that foundation. A freelance photographer tracked her time for a week. She spent 22 hours on photography (the work she’s paid for) and 18 hours on everything else: responding to inquiries, sending quotes, following up on invoices, organizing files, updating her calendar, posting on social media, and doing bookkeeping.
Almost half her work week went to unpaid administrative work. She wasn’t unique – most solopreneurs report similar ratios.
Every hour of admin is an hour you’re not earning revenue, creating content, or building your business. AI and smart systems can cut that admin time dramatically.
What You’ll Learn
By the end of this lesson, you’ll have templates and systems for your key administrative tasks, a batching routine that protects your productive time, and AI prompts that handle the heavy lifting of business operations.
The Admin Batching System
Stop doing admin when it pops up. Batch it:
The ideal solopreneur week:
| Time Block | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Morning | Deep work | Deep work | Deep work | Deep work | Admin batch |
| Midday | Client calls | Deep work | Client calls | Deep work | Planning |
| Afternoon | Client work | Client work | Client work | Client work | Marketing |
Friday is admin day. All the invoicing, bookkeeping, scheduling, follow-ups, and operational tasks get batched into one session. The rest of the week, when an admin task comes up, you add it to your Friday list and keep working.
AI: "Create a weekly admin batching checklist for a
solopreneur [in my field].
Organize by category:
FINANCIAL (30 min):
- [ ] Send invoices for completed work
- [ ] Follow up on unpaid invoices
- [ ] Log expenses
- [ ] Review income vs. goals
CLIENT MANAGEMENT (30 min):
- [ ] Respond to all non-urgent inquiries
- [ ] Send project updates
- [ ] Follow up on proposals
- [ ] Schedule upcoming calls
CONTENT & MARKETING (30 min):
- [ ] Schedule next week's content
- [ ] Review this week's performance
- [ ] Engage with comments/messages
OPERATIONS (15 min):
- [ ] Review next week's calendar
- [ ] Update project status
- [ ] File and organize documents
- [ ] Update pipeline tracker
Make this a printable checklist I can reuse weekly."
Quick Check
How much of your admin work actually needs to happen immediately? For most solopreneurs, the answer is almost none. Urgent client requests yes, but invoicing, follow-ups, and bookkeeping can all wait for your batch.
Invoice and Payment Templates
Invoicing shouldn’t take more than 5 minutes per client:
AI: "Create an invoice email template for a solopreneur.
Include:
1. A professional invoice email body (warm but professional)
2. Payment details section template
3. A gentle payment reminder template (for 7 days past due)
4. A firmer payment reminder template (for 14+ days past due)
My business: [Your business name]
My payment terms: [Net 15 / Net 30 / etc.]
My payment methods: [Bank transfer, PayPal, Stripe, etc.]
Tone: Professional and friendly. Even reminders should
be respectful -- these are relationships I want to maintain.
Also suggest:
- When to send invoices (immediately after delivery?
milestone-based?)
- How to word late fees (if I charge them)
- How to handle a client who consistently pays late"
Invoice process:
- Complete the work (or hit a milestone)
- Pull up your invoice template
- Fill in the project details and amount
- Send with your email template
- Add a follow-up reminder to your Friday checklist
AI doesn’t send the invoice, but it creates every piece of text you need so you’re just filling in blanks.
Client Onboarding System
When a new client says yes, you need a smooth onboarding process:
AI: "Create a client onboarding sequence for a [your niche]
solopreneur.
When a client signs on, I need to:
1. Send a welcome email (warm, professional, sets expectations)
2. Send a questionnaire or intake form (gather project info)
3. Share my process overview (so they know what to expect)
4. Set up the project (timeline, milestones, communication)
5. Schedule the kickoff call (or send kickoff agenda)
Create templates for each step.
My typical project involves:
- [Describe your standard scope]
- [Typical timeline]
- [How you communicate during the project]
- [What you need from the client]
Include a client welcome packet outline that covers:
- How I work
- Communication expectations (response times, channels)
- What I need from them (and when)
- Timeline and milestones
- How revisions/changes work"
A systematized onboarding makes you look professional and sets the project up for success.
Project Management for One
You don’t need enterprise project management software. You need a system that fits your brain:
AI: "Design a minimal project management system for a
solopreneur handling [number] clients at a time.
I need to track:
- Active projects (status, deadlines, next actions)
- Client communication (last contact, pending responses)
- Deliverables (what's due, what's delivered)
- Revenue (invoiced, paid, outstanding)
Suggest:
1. The simplest tool that works (spreadsheet? Notion? Trello?)
2. A template structure for that tool
3. A daily review routine (5 minutes max)
4. A weekly review routine (15 minutes max)
5. What to do when a project goes off-track
I hate complex systems. Give me the minimum viable
project management that keeps me from dropping balls."
Quick Check
Have you ever forgotten a client deliverable or missed a deadline? If yes, you need a system – even a simple one. If no, you might be the system, and that doesn’t scale.
Email Management
Email is the solopreneur’s biggest time sink. Here’s how to tame it:
AI: "Help me create an email management system as a solopreneur.
I get approximately [number] emails per day.
Types of email I receive:
- Client communication
- New inquiries
- Marketing/newsletters
- Admin (receipts, notifications)
- Spam
Create a system that includes:
1. When to check email (specific times, not constantly)
2. How to triage quickly (categories and actions)
3. Response templates for common emails
4. What to defer to Friday admin batch
5. What requires immediate response
Also create templates for:
- Initial inquiry response ('Thanks for reaching out...')
- Project update ('Quick update on your project...')
- Meeting scheduling ('Let's find a time...')
- Scope change response ('Great idea -- here's how
that would affect the project...')
- Feedback request ('How did I do?')
Each template should take under 30 seconds to customize."
The 3-check rule: Check email at 9 AM, 1 PM, and 4 PM. That’s it. No checking between, no checking at night. Most things can wait 4 hours.
File Organization
Disorganized files cost you time every day:
AI: "Create a file organization system for a [your type of]
solopreneur.
I work with [types of files: documents, images, videos,
code, designs, etc.].
Create a folder structure that:
1. Keeps client files separated and organized
2. Has a clear naming convention
3. Makes it easy to find anything in under 30 seconds
4. Scales as I add more clients
5. Works with [Google Drive / Dropbox / local / other]
Include:
- Top-level folder structure
- Client subfolder template
- File naming convention (with examples)
- Where to put non-client files (templates, admin, marketing)
- Archive process for completed projects"
Standard Operating Procedures for Recurring Tasks
Document your processes so they’re repeatable and improvable:
AI: "I need to document how I do [recurring task].
Here's how I do it now (informal):
[Describe what you do, step by step, in casual language]
Turn this into an SOP with:
1. PURPOSE: Why I do this
2. FREQUENCY: How often
3. STEPS: Numbered, specific, clear
4. TOOLS NEEDED: What I use at each step
5. TIME ESTIMATE: How long each step takes
6. QUALITY CHECK: How I know it's done right
7. COMMON MISTAKES: What goes wrong and how to prevent it
This SOP should be clear enough that if I'm sick,
someone else could follow it. Or future-me won't
have to think -- just follow the steps."
Exercise: Build Your Operations System
This week, create:
- Your weekly admin batch checklist
- Your invoice email templates (send + 2 reminders)
- Your client onboarding sequence (welcome email + intake form)
- Your project tracking system (choose a tool, set up your template)
- Your email response templates (5 common scenarios)
- Your file organization structure
Time investment: 2-3 hours upfront. Time saved: hours every week, indefinitely.
Key Takeaways
- Batch your admin into one designated block – protect the rest for high-value work
- Templates eliminate decision fatigue for recurring tasks
- Client onboarding sets expectations and prevents problems before they start
- Keep project management minimal – the simplest system you’ll actually use wins
- Check email at set times, not constantly – most things can wait 4 hours
- Document your processes as SOPs so they’re repeatable and scalable
- AI handles all the drafting and formatting; you just fill in the specifics
Next lesson: Pricing, invoicing, and client management – setting confident prices and handling the money side like a pro.
Knowledge Check
Complete the quiz above first
Lesson completed!