Do I need to know what should be automated?

No. Most people arrive with a feeling rather than a specification — something takes too long, or only one person can do it, or it gets dropped whenever the week is busy. That is enough to start from. If you can point at one job you would gladly stop doing by hand, we can work with that. If you can’t point at one yet, start with the free diagnostic instead: it finds the constraint first, and the workflow follows from it.

What happens with the first workflow?

We build it. You describe the job the way you would explain it to somebody starting on Monday — what comes in, what you would check, what should go out, and what you would never let leave without reading it. That becomes a working workflow, connected to the tools you already use, running on your account. You watch it run on real work before you rely on it. One workflow, start to finish, so what you are judging is a thing that works rather than a proposal for one.

What happens after that?

It runs. Keeping it running is the recurring part — hosting, the models it calls, monitoring, and the fixes for when something upstream changes its mind about a field name. Most people then add a second workflow, and it is usually one they spotted themselves while watching the first one work. There is no bundle to commit to up front. The next workflow is a decision you make when you want it, and not before.

Can my team eventually build workflows themselves?

That is the intended end state, and the training exists for it. Once your team has watched a few workflows get built, the skill turns out to be the describing — knowing what the work actually involves and where the judgment sits — which is the part your team already has. Some businesses would rather we kept building, and that is a legitimate choice rather than a failure. Most want at least one person inside who can change something without picking up the phone.

Do I become dependent on hmn.plus?

It is the right question to ask any vendor, and the honest answer is that you can be for exactly as long as it is useful. Three things are deliberate: the workflows are described in plain language rather than locked in a format only we can read, they run on infrastructure that can sit in your own name, and we teach the building instead of keeping it. Being the only people who can change your systems would be a business model. It is not ours.

Can we eventually own the system?

Yes, and it is an option rather than a destination — plenty of businesses would rather we kept running it, and that is a reasonable thing to want. When you do want it, the workflows, their definitions and the infrastructure transfer to you, and your team keeps the training that makes them usable. We would rather you stayed because staying is worth it.

The first automation is a fixed price, so the first decision is a small one: NZ$500 + GST to map it and get it built. After that, the platform it runs on is NZ$150 + GST a month for each person who builds workflows — everyone else who uses it is free — and that covers hosting, running your workflows, monitoring and support. Workflows you build yourself cost nothing extra; the ones we build are quoted one at a time, on what each actually involves. No annual lock-in, and nothing larger to sign before you have seen something of your own working.

Why not use ChatGPT, Claude, Zapier or n8n?

They answer a different question. Chat tools put something capable on the other end of a conversation, and then nothing happens unless a person types — every session starts again, and what the business knows ends up living in whoever writes the best prompt. Zapier and n8n wire apps to each other; the wiring holds until a field name changes, and it never makes a judgment call. Both leave the work depending on a particular person. What we build has a fixed shape: the same steps in the same order, your rules written in, a record of every action and the reason for it, and a person standing where a person should stand. The thinking inside a step can be as sharp as it needs to be. The path through it does not change because somebody phrased something differently. That is the difference between a tool one person is good at and a system a business runs on.

Where should AI actually be used?

On the judgment inside a step, not on the whole step. Reading an enquiry and working out what kind it is: yes. Drafting a reply in your voice, from your own past replies: yes. Moving money, or telling a client something binding, with nobody looking: no. What we build to is that anything with consequences waits for a person, and everything in front of it does not have to. A faster version of a bad process is still a bad process, which is why deciding where AI belongs happens before anything gets built, and is most of the value.

Unlocking the hidden value of workflows

The overlooked aspect of workflows

Everyone's talking about automation. From streamlining tasks to cutting down repetitive processes, it's clear that automation has become the poster child for efficiency. However, there's another layer often ignored — the business intelligence gleaned once these workflows are executed. Let's dive into why this is the real game-changer.

Your dashboard: A treasure trove of data

At HMN.plus, we've added features that shine a light on your workflow's hidden potentials. Our dashboard isn't just a display of recent activity. It's where all your company-related workflow data resides, showcasing run histories, average execution times, and other crucial metrics. The true magic happens when you begin to harness this data, not just to understand past performance but to predict and improve future outcomes.

Diving deeper with insights

Our Insights page is where the potential of your data comes alive. Here, you have the advantage of analyzing workflow information at both the micro (individual workflows) and macro (overall business practice) levels. With detailed timelines and communication data, you can uncover intricacies — like customer service response times or internal process delays — that were previously hidden. This level of insight allows you to pinpoint inefficiencies, eliminating bottlenecks before they impact your bottom line.

Taking it a step further, we've integrated an AI you can converse with, powered by the real-time log data your operations produce. This addition isn't just for show. It's a practical tool for interrogating your business processes and pinpointing improvement potential.

The execution log: More than just a history

The new execution log feature provides a historical perspective like never before. Dive into each workflow, tracking and reviewing the data passing through every node. Whether it's an automated email or a generated PDF, you have comprehensive visibility. This is invaluable for post-mortem analysis, letting you see exactly what happened, when, and why.

Beyond the workflows

While setting up and automating workflows is essential, the insights gathered afterwards could be your secret weapon. These features augment your existing capabilities, providing a new dimension of understanding and control across departments. For example, while the marketing department may trigger the majority of workflows, you might discover that the product team bears the heaviest workload processing these tasks. Such insights can drive strategic decisions benefiting the entire organization.

The updated release is ready to transform how you see your business operations. Continue creating and using workflows — they feed the data that powers this intelligence.

We want your feedback

These features are a starting point, and your feedback is invaluable as we continue refining them. Engage with the data, explore insights, and share your findings with us. We're eager to hear how this transforms your business approach.

Thank you, Diego from HMN.plus, for discussing our new features. Dive into the new agentic OS features and let us know your thoughts.