Guide
"AI consulting" covers wildly different things. Before you spend, here are the actual formats available to a small business — what they cost, what they deliver, and which one matches the question you're trying to answer.
Pay for one or two conversations at a time. You stay in control of what gets built; the consultant just helps you make better decisions. Best for owners who want to learn alongside the work.
Examples: Above Average Consulting ($99 Power Hour, no retainer).
Recurring training for your team on practical tools (ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot). Best when you have 3+ employees who'd benefit from consistent, in-person upskilling.
Examples: Bakersfield AI, Heed AI Solutions.
Packaged builds — typically a branded GPT agent, an automation, or a workflow plugged into your CRM. Fastest path from "I know what I want" to "it's running." Not the right call if you're still scoping.
Examples: Integrate AI Experts, Ocean Calm AI.
One team for AI plus marketing, web, sales. Efficient if you need multiple growth functions outsourced at once. Overkill if AI is your only gap.
Examples: Heed AI Solutions.
Ex-big-tech operators advising on AI strategy at the product or org level. Designed for funded startups and scaling teams — not for solo operators or sub-10-person teams.
Examples: Neuronn AI, Strategence AI.
Free tutorials, paid courses, and AI-tool documentation can take a motivated owner surprisingly far. The hidden cost is your time — and the risk of building the wrong thing well.
Examples: YouTube + vendor docs + a community forum.
A $99 Power Hour will tell you which of these formats actually fits — and often, it's not the most expensive one.
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