If you search for an AI strategy consultant, most of what comes back is written for companies with a board, a CIO and a budget line for “transformation.” The pitch is a months-long assessment that ends in a roadmap. That can make sense for a company with thousands of employees. It rarely makes sense for a business with twelve, which still needs a plan, just a much smaller one.
What AI strategy and advisory services deliver
Whatever it’s called (AI strategy services, AI advisory services, AI strategy and consulting), the core job is the same. Someone looks at how your business runs and answers three questions:
At a large company, answering those takes interviews across departments, a data review and a steering committee. At a ten-person business, the same answers usually come out of one conversation with the owner and a look at how the front desk spends its day.
Strategy, implementation, or both
There are roughly three ways to get AI working in a small business.
| What you get | Good fit when | |
|---|---|---|
| Strategy only | A plan and recommendations; you or someone else builds it | You have someone in-house who can build, or you want a second opinion |
| Strategy + implementation | A short plan, then the first fix built and handed over | You want results without managing a project yourself |
| DIY | Free tools, tutorials and your own time | The problem is small and you enjoy figuring it out |
For most small teams, the middle row works best. A plan on its own still leaves someone to build it, and building without a plan tends to produce a pile of tools that don’t talk to each other.
Before you pay for strategy
If you already know exactly what’s wrong (say, the same intake form gets retyped into two systems every day), you may not need a strategy step at all. Skip to fixing it. Strategy earns its cost when the problem is fuzzy, or when there are several problems and you can’t tell which one to start with.
What a useful AI plan looks like
A good plan for a small business fits on a few pages and reads like a to-do list. Here’s what mine include:
If a strategy deliverable doesn’t let you make a decision the following week, it’s too long or too vague.
When to skip strategy entirely
You can skip the strategy step if:
In that case, go straight to building. You’ll learn more from one working automation than from a document about ten possible ones.
How Solooshun does it
I offer AI strategy in a size that fits small teams. It starts with a free 15-minute call. If there’s something worth fixing, the next step is a written blueprint for $249 flat: where the friction is, what to fix first and what each fix costs. Most fixes start at $495. The pricing page has the details.
If you’re still comparing options, the top AI consulting firms, and what small businesses can use instead covers who else is out there, and AI consulting for small businesses: where to start covers the basics.
Quick answers
What does an AI strategy consultant do?
An AI strategy consultant looks at how your business runs and decides where AI and automation should go first, what it should cost, and what to leave alone. The output is a plan. For a small business, that plan should be short and specific enough to act on the next week.
Do small businesses need AI advisory services?
Usually not an ongoing engagement. Most small teams get more from one short written plan, then one fix built and tested, than from months of advice.
How much does an AI strategy cost for a small business?
It depends on scope. At Solooshun, a written blueprint of what to fix and in what order is $249 flat, and the first 15-minute call is free.
