AI and automation audit for service businesses: $4,500, two weeks
Two weeks. I watch how the work actually happens in your company, inventory every tool you pay for, and hand you a written map of where the hours go with a ranked roadmap of what to automate first. $4,500, credited in full against a retainer if you continue within 60 days.
What you get
- A map of where the hours go
Every repeated task across sales, delivery, finance and support, with the hours each one consumes and what it costs when it goes wrong. - A tool and spend inventory
Every subscription you pay for, what it does, who uses it, and which ones are paid for and unused. - A ranked roadmap
The automations worth building, in order, with an estimated saving and a build effort against each one. - A data and model note
Which of your data can go to which model, and what has to stay inside your own systems. - A 60-minute walkthrough
I present it to you and whoever else needs to hear it, and answer whatever comes up.
The deliverable is a written document you keep. It is written so your own team or any vendor can execute it without me.
The two weeks
- Days 1 to 3, watching
Calls with you and three to five people who do the work. I watch the actual screens rather than reading a process document, because the gap between the two is where the hours hide. - Days 4 to 6, inventory
Every tool, every subscription, every integration, and every spreadsheet doing a job software should be doing. - Days 7 to 10, sizing
Each candidate gets an hours estimate, a build effort and a risk note. Anything that should be deleted rather than automated gets flagged as exactly that. - Days 11 to 14, the document and the walkthrough
You get the map, the roadmap and the walkthrough call.
Your team spends about four hours total on this, spread across the first week. The point of the audit is that I do the looking.
What it costs and what happens after
There is no obligation after the walkthrough. Many companies take the roadmap and execute it with their own team, which is a legitimate outcome and the reason the document is written to be handed over.
If you would rather I owned it, the $4,500 comes off your first invoice on either the $6,500 Advisor retainer or the $12,500 Owner retainer, provided you start within 60 days. Both are on the pricing page.
Who this is for
US service businesses between $1M and $50M in revenue. Agencies, trades, professional services, field service and logistics. It works best when the company has at least ten people, because below that the repeated work is usually still visible to the owner without an audit.
It is the right first step if you have bought AI tools that did not stick, if headcount has grown faster than revenue, or if you want evidence before committing to a retainer.
Questions about the audit
What is an automation audit?
How much does an automation audit cost?
How much of my team's time does it take?
What if the audit finds nothing worth automating?
Can we run the roadmap ourselves afterwards?
Do you need access to our systems?
Written by Valerian Valkin, Fractional Chief AI Officer
Founder of 2V Automation and Shila. Fifteen years running businesses, n8n Certified Expert Partner. LinkedIn
Two weeks to know where your hours go.
A 30-minute call first. I will ask enough about the company to tell you whether the audit will find anything worth $4,500, and I will say so if it will not.