Most processes that cost too much time aren't one big problem. They're a handful of steps that genuinely need a person, wrapped in a dozen mechanical ones that don't.

We separate the two. Mechanical work — moving data between systems, reformatting it, matching records, filing, chasing — follows rules, so it can be handled by software. Work that needs judgement stays with your team, but reaches them sooner and with the context already assembled.

What we build is a small internal tool made for your process specifically, rather than a general-purpose product you have to reshape your business around. It sits alongside the systems you already pay for instead of replacing them.

01 — Audit

You describe the process. We map it and mark where the time actually goes.

02 — Build

A tool for your process, tested against your real data before it goes anywhere near a client.

03 — Maintain

Your suppliers and systems change. Keeping up with them becomes our problem, not yours.

The audit below is free and comes back in writing. If the numbers don't justify building anything, we'll say so — we'd rather lose the work than sell you something that doesn't pay for itself.

Tell us where your week goes.

10 minutes

Pick one process that eats more time than it should and walk us through it. The more specific you are, the more useful the audit. We read every one of these ourselves.

01 — The process

What are we looking at?

Start with the shape of it. One process per audit — if you have three, send three.

Whatever you call it internally.

Give the process a name so we know what to call it.

Pick the closest area.

The thing that happens right before someone starts work.
The output, and who receives it.
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02 — The steps

Walk us through it.

This is the part that matters most. Write it as if you're training someone who starts Monday.

Include the boring parts — the copy-pasting, the double-checking, the waiting on someone to reply. That's usually where the time is hiding.
0 wordsAim for 100 or more

Give us the steps — even a rough list is enough to work from.

Roles are fine, names aren't needed.
Everything it touches, including the spreadsheet nobody admits to.
What form does the information arrive in? Tick everything that applies.
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03 — The cost

What is it costing you?

Estimates are fine — we're after the order of magnitude, not the exact figure. The saving updates as you type.

Salary plus overheads, per person, per hour.
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04 — The friction

Where does it break?

Be blunt. We can't fix a bottleneck we can't see.

The specific step, not the general feeling.

Tell us where it breaks — this is the part we work from.

Late payments, angry customers, rework, a bad month-end — whatever it is.
Saves us proposing something you've ruled out.
Systems you're locked into, data that can't leave the building, approvals that are contractual, anything regulated.
We won't try to automate these. Naming them early makes the rest easier.
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05 — You

Where do we send it?

Last bit. The audit comes back in writing within two working days.

We need a name to address the audit to.

That email address doesn't look right — check it and try again.

If this were solved, what would be different on a Friday afternoon?

Tick this so we're allowed to email the audit back to you.

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Received

Got it. That's everything we need.

We'll read it properly and come back within two working days.

What happens next

  1. We map your process and mark the steps that are costing you the most.
  2. You get a written breakdown — where the time goes, what we'd automate first, and what it saves.
  3. If it's worth doing, we quote it. If it isn't, we say so and tell you why.

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Kernknot Ltd, registered in England and Wales no. 17438369. Registered office 62 Shortridge Terrace, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE2 2JH. Trading as Kernknot. hello@kernknot.com  ·  v2.0 — 31 August 2026