01 · Resources

Business process automation and bots with n8n

Process automation means having software run the repetitive tasks that currently travel between your tools: copying an order into the CRM, chasing a client, producing a report. In a small business it usually runs on n8n, an orchestrator you can host yourself, and a WhatsApp or Telegram bot often becomes its front door.

This category covers choosing an orchestrator (n8n vs Make vs Zapier, with real costs at the execution volumes that matter), installing self-hosted n8n on a server with Docker and Traefik, writing workflows that survive production, and the WhatsApp and Telegram bots that trigger those workflows from a phone: a photo of a receipt, an order, a status request. The question that decides everything else stays the same: what to automate first when you cannot automate everything. You will also find the operational mistakes that cost money, the ones tutorials never mention because they only surface after months.

Start with the guide

The n8n licence: what the Sustainable Use License allows

n8n is not open source in the strict sense: it is distributed under the Sustainable Use License. Here is what it allows an SME that automates its processes, and its service provider, and what it forbids anyone who wants to resell a service built on n8n.

7 articles

  • Stepping back8 min

    Will AI take young people's first jobs?

    No disruption is visible across the labour market as a whole, but a signal appears among young people, in the occupations where AI replaces the task. What the studies say, our view, and the real question for an SME: how to train its juniors tomorrow.

  • Practical guide12 min

    Automate customer support: AI sorts, humans review

    Incoming tickets and emails read, sorted and prepared by AI, then reviewed by your team when the reply commits the company: how to split the work, what can go out on its own, and why sorting costs a few cents when each step has the right model.

  • Practical guide7 min

    Automating software without an API: six ways in

    Your business software has no API, or keeps it for a more expensive plan? There is usually still a door for automating it: here are the six, from the most solid to the most fragile, with what each one costs in maintenance.

  • Choose and price9 min

    Automation without AI: when a rule is enough

    Not every automation needs AI. A fixed rule costs less and always gives the same result: here is how to spot the steps where AI really pays off, and those where it only adds cost.

  • Practical guide9 min

    Monitoring your n8n workflows: no silent failures

    An automation that fails without warning is worse than a manual task: nobody knows the work has not been done. Here is the minimal set-up that turns a silent failure into an alert, then into a rerun, using the tools n8n already provides.

  • Choose and price8 min

    n8n, Make or Zapier: which to choose for an SME?

    All three tools connect your applications without heavy development, but they do not charge for the same thing and do not give you the same freedom. This comparison for decision-makers looks at the billing unit, hosting, licence and who maintains it the day it breaks.

  • Understand8 min

    The n8n licence: what the Sustainable Use License allows

    n8n is not open source in the strict sense: it is distributed under the Sustainable Use License. Here is what it allows an SME that automates its processes, and its service provider, and what it forbids anyone who wants to resell a service built on n8n.

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