AI for Small Business

AI consulting for small business.

AI consulting for small business is hands-on help finding where AI genuinely saves your team time or money — then building and teaching those specific workflows so you stay capable, not dependent. It's not enterprise transformation decks or generic prompt courses. It's practical, scoped to one business, and aimed at a working result you actually use.

Signs You're Ready

You don't need an AI strategy. You need one workflow that works.

You or your team spend hours each week on repetitive, manual work
Customer follow-up and replies slip through the cracks
Marketing and content go out inconsistently, or not at all
You've tried ChatGPT but get generic, unreliable results
You know AI could help somewhere but don't know where to start
You don't want to be locked into tools you don't understand

How It Works

Practical, scoped, and built around your actual work.

Map the real workflow

We start with how your business actually runs today — tools, handoffs, repeated tasks, and where time and attention leak out.

Pick the first useful AI move

Not automate-everything. We find one to three places AI genuinely helps, without creating fragile dependencies you can't maintain.

Build it and teach it

You get working workflows plus the prompts, tool choices, and guardrails to run and extend them yourself — capable, not dependent.

Transparent Pricing

Clear prices, small first steps.

Free AI readiness assessment

A 3-minute diagnostic that shows where AI is most worth applying.

$0

1-on-1 AI tutoring / coaching

Screen-share sessions on your actual tools and workflows.

$100 / hour

Practical AI Starter Session

A focused working session that produces a short, usable AI action map for your business.

$300

Implementation & automation projects

Scoped to the work. Most first projects run roughly $500–$2,500; larger builds up to about $5,000.

Custom scope

Why Work With Me

Real training experience, real shipped software.

I built and ran the training program for Tesla's Autopilot team in Austin — growing it from a dozen people to 500+ trained — so making non-technical people genuinely capable is the core of how I work.

I also use AI to design, build, and ship real software and websites (you're reading one). That's the difference between someone who talks about AI and someone who ships with it daily. Recently I took a friend's sluggish old 8GB Windows laptop and got the whole machine running fast and smooth again — AI coding tools like Claude Code now run well on it too. Practical help on real, modest hardware, which is what most small businesses actually have.

I'm based between the Rogue Valley in Southern Oregon and the north Austin area, available remotely everywhere and in person in both regions.

FAQ

Common questions

How much does AI consulting cost for a small business?

It ranges from free to a few thousand dollars depending on scope. The AI readiness assessment is free, 1-on-1 tutoring is $100/hour, a focused Practical AI Starter Session that produces an action map is $300 flat, and full implementation or automation projects are custom-scoped — most first projects run roughly $500–$2,500, with larger builds up to about $5,000. You never start with a big commitment; most owners begin with the free assessment or the $300 starter session.

What does an AI consultant do for a small business?

A practical AI consultant figures out where AI genuinely saves your specific business time or money, then builds and teaches those workflows — things like customer follow-up, admin and document handling, marketing drafting, owner research and decisions, and safe team usage. The goal is one or two reliable wins you actually use, not a pile of tools or a generic 'AI strategy' deck.

Is AI consulting worth it for a small business?

It's worth it when it's tied to real friction and leaves you capable. A focused engagement that recovers a few hours a week, or makes follow-up consistent, pays for itself quickly. It is not worth it if it's vague advice or tools nobody on your team can maintain — which is exactly what this approach is built to avoid.

Should I hire a consultant, take a course, or just use ChatGPT myself?

Use all three for what each is good at. Free tools and courses are great for general concepts. A consultant is worth it when you want a working result on your actual workflows fast, and the skills to keep going — without spending weeks figuring out what's relevant to you. The fastest test is the free assessment: it shows whether your situation needs hands-on help or just a learning path.

Do I need to be technical to work with an AI consultant?

No. The whole approach assumes you're not. I trained 500+ people on Tesla's Autopilot team, from engineers to operations staff, and recently revived a friend's sluggish old 8GB laptop so the whole machine runs fast again (AI tools included) — the point is meeting you where you are and building confidence by doing, with no jargon.

Start with the free assessment.

Three minutes shows where AI is most worth applying in your business — then you decide if a starter session or hands-on work makes sense. No commitment.