Notes · Note 13
What AI costs a small business
Three layers of cost, and how to decide which ones you need.
The short version
- The tools are cheap: about $20 to $30 a person each month.
- Automation platforms add tens to a few hundred dollars a month.
- Outside help is the real decision. Price it against the hours it saves.
Owners ask us this more than anything else. The answer comes in three layers, and most businesses see results from the first two.
Layer one: the AI tools
A paid seat of ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini runs about $20 a month per person, and business plans with admin controls cost a little more. Start with one or two seats for the people most likely to use them daily. Note 01 covers which one to pick.
Layer two: automation and add-ons
Connecting AI to your email, CRM, phone line or calendar usually runs through an automation platform or a purpose-built tool. Expect tens of dollars a month for simple setups and a few hundred for voice agents or high volume.
Layer three: someone to set it up
This is where prices vary most. A big-firm AI strategy engagement often starts around $50,000, an agency retainer around $10,000 a month, and an operations hire around $95,000 a year. The AI Once-Over is $5,000 flat for four weeks: the audit, the priced Opportunity Map, your first build running, and the $25,000 guarantee.
How to decide what it is worth
Add up the hours. Five people losing fifteen minutes a day at $60 an hour comes to about $18,750 a year. Two owner hours a week at $150 an hour is $15,600. The calculator on our front page runs the same math with your numbers, and each industry page has one set up for that kind of business.
One seat, one workflow, two weeks. Measure the hours it saves, then decide on the next step.
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