Hello ClarenceOpinion
What an AI consultant should actually do for a small business
If someone quotes you five figures to 'begin your AI journey', walk away. Here is what a fair engagement for a small business looks like.
The mismatch
Enterprise AI consulting is priced for enterprises. A $40k discovery phase makes sense when the client has a $200m IT budget and a compliance team. It is nonsense for a cafe with four staff.
But small businesses get sold the same shape of engagement anyway, just smaller and worse. A strategy document nobody reads, a tool nobody logs into, a monthly retainer for 'support'.
What small business actually needs
- A named problem, not a strategy. 'Quotes take too long' beats 'we want to be AI-enabled'.
- A working fix inside a session or two. If it takes a quarter, the price is wrong.
- Someone who tells you when AI is the wrong answer. Sometimes the fix is a better form, not a model.
- An exit. You should be able to run the thing yourself without paying a retainer forever.
How to tell a good consultant from a bad one
Ask what they would not use AI for. A good consultant has a list ready and is happy to name the trade-offs, including the ones that cost them the sale.
Ask to see the output, not the deck. Anyone can produce a roadmap. Ask them to sit with you and fix one real job in an hour.
Ask what happens when it breaks. The honest answer is 'you call us or you call the tool's support', not a 12-month lock-in.
Our version of this
We charge $199 for two half-hour sessions with a practitioner who has actually run a small business. You leave with the fix working and the instructions to keep it working.
The library of playbooks is free. If you can run them yourself, do that — we would rather you spend nothing and tell a mate.