Automating Admin in a Small Catford Business: Start With the Dull Weekly Jobs

What admin actually is

If you wrote down a week of it, the list would be short and tedious: send the invoice, chase the late one, retype details from one system into another, remind someone, send the weekly figures to whoever needs them. None of it is difficult. All of it is interruptible, which is why it gets done late.

A small practice

Catford.co lists two vets (counted 10 October 2026), which makes a useful example because it is small. A practice like that has appointments, reminders, records and bills, and a handful of people share them. Suppose reminders and invoices go out on whoever's afternoon is free. Then the weekly job is to ask who has and has not paid, and that list is exactly what an automated process can compile and act on.

Jobs that suit automation

From his website: raising invoices; chasing late payments; copying details between systems; sending updates, confirmations and reminders; sorting and routing incoming messages; and producing a weekly report. Each is repetitive and has a clear right answer.

Jobs that do not

Anything involving judgement about a person, such as a disputed bill or a sensitive conversation, belongs with you. Anything touching sensitive records needs care about where the data goes, and you should ask directly how that is handled.

Where to begin

Choose the job you resent most that has a clear rule. Late-payment chasing is a common first choice because the rule is simple: if unpaid after the due date, send this message. Then watch it for a few weeks before adding the next.

Process

A free call about how the business runs. An audit of the work worth automating. The build and install. Training and support. He begins with the single most useful task, and the call gives you a plan to use with or without him.

Where he is

Horndean, Hampshire. Remote anywhere in the UK, with visits in Hampshire or nearby per his website.

Cost

Not published. Given after the free call, no obligation.

Contact

Call or WhatsApp Dean Keating on 07418 627304, or email dean@deankeating.com. See the Dean Keating profile on Catford.co. Websites: ai-agent.deankeating.com and deankeating.com.

About this guide

Catford.co is published by Dean Keating, who also runs the service described here. He is based in Horndean, Hampshire, not in Catford, and works with Catford and south-east London businesses remotely. If you want someone in the room, say so on the first call and look at Catford-based providers too. This guide recommends our own service, so compare it with other providers before you decide.