How to use Make.com to automate your small business is one of the most practical skills you can learn in an afternoon — and one that pays back in hours saved every single week. This guide walks through everything from creating your first account to building the workflows that actually matter for a small business.
Make.com is not complicated. It looks complicated at first. Give it two hours and you will wonder how you ran your business without it.
What Make.com Actually Does
Make.com — the platform many people still search for as Integromat — is a visual automation tool. It connects your apps — Gmail, Google Sheets, WhatsApp, QuickBooks, Calendly, Slack, and 1,500+ others — and runs tasks automatically based on triggers you define.
Every automation in Make is called a scenario. A scenario has two parts: a trigger (something that happens) and one or more actions (what Make does in response).
Simple example:
- Trigger: Someone submits your contact form
- Action 1: Add their details to a Google Sheet
- Action 2: Send them an automatic reply email
- Action 3: Send you a Slack notification
That entire sequence runs automatically, every time, in about 10 seconds. No manual copy-pasting. No missed leads. No forgotten follow-ups.
Make.com vs Integromat — What Changed
If you searched for Integromat and landed here, you are in the right place — Integromat is Make.com. Nothing was discontinued and no features were lost. The product was simply rebranded.
- 2022: Integromat was renamed to Make.com. Same company, same engine, same scenarios.
- The interface was redesigned and made easier to use — but the core concept (triggers and actions on a visual canvas) is identical.
- Your old logins still work. Existing Integromat accounts were migrated automatically to Make.com.
- Pricing changed to the operations-based plans covered later in this guide — the free plan still exists.
So any tutorial, template, or "Integromat" guide you find still applies — just expect the word "Make" wherever older articles say "Integromat". For the rest of this guide we use the current name, Make.com.
Step 1 — Create Your Make.com Account
Go to Make.com and sign up for a free account. No credit card required. The free plan gives you 1,000 operations per month — enough to run 3–4 real business workflows comfortably.
Once inside, you will see the Make dashboard. The key areas to know:
- Scenarios — where all your automations live
- Connections — where you authorise Make to access your apps (Gmail, Sheets, etc.)
- Templates — pre-built scenarios you can use as a starting point
Step 2 — Connect Your First App
Before building anything, connect the apps you use most. Click Connections in the left sidebar → Create a connection → search for your app (start with Gmail and Google Sheets).
Make will ask you to sign in to that app and grant permissions. This is standard OAuth — Make gets read/write access, nothing more. Your passwords are never shared with Make.
Connect these first — they are used in almost every small business workflow:
- Gmail (or Outlook)
- Google Sheets
- Google Calendar
- Slack or WhatsApp Business (if you use either)
Step 3 — Build Your First Scenario
Start simple. The best first scenario for any small business: New contact form submission → Log in Google Sheets + Email notification.
Here is how to build it step by step:
- Click Create a new scenario
- Click the large + in the center of the canvas
- Search for Webhooks and select Custom webhook — this creates a unique URL for your contact form to send data to
- Copy the webhook URL Make gives you
- Go to your contact form settings (WPForms, Gravity Forms, Typeform, or whatever you use) and paste the webhook URL into the "Webhook" or "Integrations" section
- Back in Make, click the small + to the right of the webhook module to add your next step
- Search for Google Sheets → select Add a Row
- Select your spreadsheet and map the fields: Name, Email, Message, Timestamp
- Add another + → search Gmail → select Send an Email
- Write your notification email — subject: "New enquiry from [Name]", body with their details
- Click Run once to test — submit your contact form and watch it fire
- If everything works, click the toggle to turn the scenario On
Your first automation is now live. Every new contact form submission will be logged and you will be notified — automatically, forever, without you doing anything.
How Webhooks Work in Make.com
The webhook is the part that trips people up most — but it is simple. A webhook is just a unique URL that Make (or, in older guides, Integromat) generates for you. Whenever data is sent to that URL, your scenario fires.
- Add a Custom webhook module as the first step of a scenario — Make instantly gives you a URL.
- Paste that URL into whatever app should trigger the automation (a contact form, a payment provider, another tool).
- Click Run once, then send a real submission so Make can "learn" the data structure.
- The URL never changes, so once it is connected it keeps working forever.
If you used Integromat webhooks before the rebrand, they behave exactly the same way in Make.com — only the dashboard around them looks different.
The 5 Best Make.com Workflows for Small Businesses
Once you have your first scenario working, build these next — in this order:
1. Lead Follow-Up (48-Hour Reminder)
When a new lead is added to your Google Sheet, Make waits 48 hours. If the "Status" column is still blank (no response recorded), it sends a follow-up email automatically. When you mark the lead as "Replied", the follow-up stops. This alone recovers a significant percentage of leads that would otherwise go cold.
2. Review Request (24 Hours After Job Completion)
When a job is marked "Complete" in your system, Make waits 24 hours then sends the client a text or email asking for a Google review. Businesses that automate this consistently get 3–5x more reviews than those who ask manually.
3. Invoice Overdue Reminder
Connect QuickBooks or Wave to Make. When an invoice passes its due date, Make sends a polite reminder at 7, 14, and 21 days. This reduces average days-to-payment by 30–40% for most service businesses.
4. New Booking Confirmation
When someone books via Calendly or any booking system, Make sends a confirmation email, adds the job to your Google Sheet, and notifies your team via Slack or WhatsApp — all in under 30 seconds.
5. Weekly Business Summary
Every Monday morning, Make pulls data from your Google Sheets (new leads, jobs completed, revenue logged) and sends you a plain-English summary email. Your weekly numbers, without opening a spreadsheet.
The Most Common Make.com Mistakes (And How to Avoid Them)
- Turning a scenario on before testing it. Always use "Run once" with real test data first. A scenario sending 200 duplicate emails to your clients is not a good start.
- Building too complex a scenario first. Start with two modules. Add complexity once the basics work. Every expert Make user started with a simple webhook-to-spreadsheet scenario.
- Not setting up error notifications. Go to Scenario Settings → turn on "Send notifications by email when a scenario fails." You want to know immediately if something breaks, not discover it a week later.
- Ignoring the Templates library. Make has hundreds of pre-built scenarios for common workflows. Before building from scratch, check if a template already exists. It usually does.
Make.com Pricing — What You Actually Need
- Free: 1,000 operations/month, 2 active scenarios. Enough to start and test.
- Core ($9/month): 10,000 operations, unlimited scenarios. This is where most small businesses land after the first month.
- Pro ($16/month): 10,000 operations + priority execution. Worth it when timing matters (e.g. instant lead notifications).
Start free. Upgrade when you hit the limits — which means your automations are working.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happened to Integromat?
Integromat was rebranded to Make.com in 2022. It is the same automation platform — same company, same scenarios, same underlying engine — with a redesigned, easier interface. Nothing was shut down. If you have an old Integromat account, it was migrated to Make.com automatically and your login still works.
Is Make.com the same as Integromat?
Yes. "Make" and "Integromat" are the same product — Integromat is just the old name. Any Integromat tutorial or template still works; just read "Make" wherever it says "Integromat".
What is Integromat / Make.com used for?
It connects the apps you already use and runs repetitive tasks automatically — logging leads, sending follow-up emails, requesting reviews, chasing invoices, confirming bookings. For a small business it typically saves several hours every week.
Does Make.com still have a free plan?
Yes. The free plan gives you 1,000 operations per month and 2 active scenarios — enough to build and test 3–4 real workflows before you ever need to pay.
Want to see how Make.com compares to Zapier before deciding? Read our Make vs Zapier comparison →
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