06 — AI & Software Consulting
Put AI into the workflow you already have
Practical guidance on where automation actually pays, and — just as often — where it does not. Without rebuilding your business around it.
Most small businesses are being sold AI as a destination. It is more useful as a tool applied to one specific job that currently eats your week — answering the same question, chasing the same unpaid invoice, retyping the same information from one system into another.
A useful consultation starts with where your time actually goes, not with which model to use. Some of what it finds will be automation. Some of it will be a form, a template, or deleting a step nobody needed. We will tell you when that is the answer, even though it is the one that bills fewest hours.
The bias throughout is toward changes that fit the way you already work. A perfect system nobody adopts is worth less than a small one that gets used on a busy Saturday.
What you get
Where your time actually goes
A walk through the week as it really runs, not the tidy version. The repeated jobs are where the value is.
What is worth automating, and what is not
Ranked by hours returned against effort and risk, including the things we would leave alone.
Tools that fit what you already run
Recommendations that work with your current systems, rather than a migration disguised as an improvement.
Something you can act on
A written summary with next steps, so the value survives the call rather than living in your memory.
How it works
A call about the work, not the tech
What repeats, what gets dropped, what you dread. Technology comes after that, not before.
Review and recommendations
Written, prioritised, and honest about effort — including anything that is not worth doing.
Build it, or take it away
We can implement the recommendations, or you can take the document to anyone. It is yours either way.
Common questions
Will you tell me if AI is not the answer?
Yes, and it happens often. Plenty of what gets sold as an AI problem is a form, a template, or a step that can simply be removed. Recommending that costs us hours and saves you money, which is the arrangement you should want from a consultant.
Do I need to change the systems I use?
Usually not. The default is to work with what you already run, because adoption matters more than elegance. If something genuinely cannot get you where you want to go, we will say so and explain the trade.
Can you implement what you recommend?
Yes, and you are never obliged to use us for it. The written recommendations are yours to take anywhere — that is deliberate, because advice you can only act on by buying more from the adviser is not advice.
How is this billed?
$125 per hour, or a fixed-scope review quoted up front if you would rather know the total before starting. Most useful engagements are short.