Module 2: Services to Offer
AI Consulting for Small Business
Sarah Chen, an AI consultant in Austin, built a $15K/month practice offering exactly two services: AI-powered email marketing setup and customer service chatbots for e-commerce stores. That's it. Two services, one niche, and she's booked solid.
The Service Menu (Pick 2-3 to Start)
Tier 1: Quick Wins (£300-£1,000) — Where You Should Start
These are easy to deliver, easy to demonstrate, and clients see results within days:
- AI Content Systems: Set up ChatGPT/Claude workflows for social media posts, blog articles, email newsletters. Create custom prompt libraries tailored to their brand voice. Most small businesses spend 5-10 hours/week on content — you can cut that to 1-2 hours.
- Customer Response Automation: Configure AI-assisted responses for common customer queries via email, social DMs, or review platforms. A restaurant getting 30+ Google reviews/month that go unanswered? You set up a system where AI drafts personalised responses and the owner just clicks approve.
- Document & Admin Automation: Meeting summaries, proposal templates, invoice processing, data entry assistance. Boring? Yes. Valuable? Enormously. An accountant spending 2 hours/day on email admin will pay you gladly.
Tier 2: Implementation Projects (£1,000-£5,000)
These require more setup but deliver bigger results:
Which service offering is positioned better?
Which prompt is better?
- AI-Enhanced Marketing Funnels: Landing pages, email sequences, ad copy, and lead magnets — all created with AI, customised to their brand. Package it as "your entire marketing engine, built in two weeks."
- Knowledge Base & Training Systems: Build an internal AI assistant trained on their SOPs, product info, and FAQs. New staff can ask it questions instead of bothering the owner. Works brilliantly for businesses with high staff turnover (hospitality, retail).
- Sales Process Optimisation: AI-drafted proposals, follow-up sequences, lead scoring, and CRM automation. A real estate agent who takes 45 minutes to write each property listing can do it in 5 minutes.
Tier 3: Strategic Consulting (£2,000-£10,000)
Only offer these once you've got a track record:
- Full AI Audits & Roadmaps: Comprehensive assessment of the entire business with a 90-day implementation plan. This is the premium offering that positions you as a strategic advisor, not just a tool installer.
- Team Training Programmes: Half-day or full-day workshops teaching their entire team to use AI effectively. Charge £1,500-£3,000 per session. Scales beautifully because you build the curriculum once.
What's the ideal first service to offer small business AI consulting clients?
The Service You Should NEVER Offer
Don't build custom software. Don't promise to create bespoke AI models. Don't say you'll build them an app. The moment you cross from "AI tool consultant" into "software developer," you're in a world of scope creep, bugs, and support nightmares. If a client needs custom development, refer them to a dev shop and take a referral fee.
How to Package Services
Stop selling hours. Sell packages with names:
- "AI Quick Start" — £500: Audit + setup of one AI workflow + 30-day support
- "AI Accelerator" — £2,000: Full audit + 3 workflow implementations + team training + 60-day support
- "AI Partner" — £500/month retainer: Ongoing optimisation, new tool rollouts, monthly strategy call
The package names matter. "AI Quick Start" sounds like a product. "5 hours of consulting" sounds like a meter running.
Productise Ruthlessly
Service packages should always be defined by the ___ the client receives, not the hours you work.
This is how consulting becomes profitable. Not by working more hours, but by getting faster at delivering the same outcomes.
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Service Package Creator
I'm an AI consultant targeting [BUSINESS TYPE, e.g., "independent restaurants"]. Create three service packages (Basic/Standard/Premium) that solve their biggest operational pain points using AI tools. For each package include: a catchy name, what's included (be specific about tools and deliverables), delivery timeline, and suggested price point for the UK market. The packages should have a natural upsell progression where Basic creates demand for Standard.
Service Delivery Checklist
Create a detailed step-by-step delivery checklist for this AI consulting service: [SERVICE, e.g., "Setting up AI-powered customer email responses for a physiotherapy clinic"]. Include: pre-project preparation, client onboarding steps, technical setup (name specific tools), testing process, client training outline, handover documentation, and 30-day follow-up plan. Format as a checklist I can reuse for every client.
ROI Calculator Script
Create a simple ROI calculation script I can walk through with a potential client during a sales call. The business type is [TYPE] and the service I'm proposing is [SERVICE]. Show me how to calculate: current time spent on the task, hourly cost of that time, projected time savings with AI, annual savings, and my fee as a percentage of first-year savings. Include realistic numbers and a conversational script for presenting this ("Here's what this actually means for your bottom line...").1. Pick ONE business type you want to target (be specific — "independent coffee shops," not "food businesses")
2. List their top 5 time-wasting tasks (ask an owner or check Reddit/forums)
3. For each task, identify an AI tool that could help (ChatGPT, Zapier, specific SaaS tools)
4. Package your top 3 solutions into Basic/Standard/Premium tiers
5. Write a one-page service menu you could hand to a prospect
Time limit: 90 minutes. Don't let perfect be the enemy of done.
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