AI Consulting for SMBs
AI consulting for Canadian small and medium-sized businesses (1-50 staff). Practical, owner-friendly, fixed-scope engagements that ship in weeks.
Where AI actually helps smbs
Four focused use cases. We will help you pick the one with the highest ROI for your firm and start there.
Customer support and chat
AI chat or email triage that handles 50-70% of inquiries automatically and routes the rest to a human with context.
Sales follow-up automation
AI-aided lead nurture, proposal drafting, and CRM hygiene that recovers the leads you are dropping today.
Ops and admin automation
Invoice processing, reporting, scheduling, and inbox triage automation that recovers 5-15 hours per week per role.
Content and marketing
AI-assisted content production for SMBs that cannot justify a full content team, with editorial guardrails kept tight.
Compliance & professional considerations
Every engagement includes PIPEDA-aligned data handling, especially for customer PII, plus practical guidance on AI vendor data terms. We do not over-build governance for SMBs that do not need it, but we do not skip it either.
How a typical engagement runs
Four phases, fixed scope, named owner
Discovery
Owner interview, workflow audit, current tool list, 1-2 highest-impact automation candidates identified.
Tool selection
Shortlist the right 1-3 AI tools for your stack. Avoid the "10 free trials" trap.
Pilot
Build the highest-impact automation first, prove the time savings, then scope what comes next.
Adoption
Owner and team training, 30-day check-in, hand-off so you can run it yourself.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is this affordable for a small business?
Most SMB engagements run $2.5K-$15K, often paying back in 2-4 months on labour alone. We deliberately scope for SMB budgets and time horizons, no 6-figure "transformation" programs.
What is the right starting point?
For SMBs under 10 staff: the ChatGPT Stack Plan ($2.5K-$8K) or Automation Starter ($2.5K-$7.5K). For 10-50 staff with multiple workflows: AI Readiness Assessment ($3.5K-$12K) or AI Automation Consulting ($5K-$20K). We will tell you on the discovery call.
Do you work with sole proprietors?
Yes, although sole proprietors usually do not need a full consulting engagement. We point them to free tools (AI Stack Shortlist, Automation Finder) and a $500-$1K coaching session if that is enough.
What about really small budgets?
Use the free tools on /tools first (Stack Shortlist, Plan Chooser, Automation Finder, ROI Calculator). Subscribe to the newsletter for SMB-focused playbooks. If you want personal help on a tight budget, ask about a single-session coaching call.
How is this different from hiring a freelancer?
A freelancer builds what you ask for. A consultant tells you what to ask for, makes sure the tool fits your business, and designs adoption so it actually gets used. For SMBs without internal AI expertise, the consulting layer is usually what makes the difference between "we bought a tool" and "we are saving 15 hours a week."
Thinking about AI consulting for your smbs firm?
Book a 30-minute discovery call. We will tell you honestly whether a consulting engagement is the right next step or whether something smaller fits better.