Question 1
What would you look at first?
Your calls, quotes, scheduling and paperwork, before any tool comes up. Someone who leads with a product has already picked the answer.
Zygo Local · Choosing a consultant
How to choose an AI consultant, and when to walk away
The short answer
Hire the AI consultant who asks about your calls, quotes and paperwork before naming a tool, puts the full price in writing, opens every account in your name, tells you what not to automate, and agrees on how to measure success before the work starts. Walk away from long contracts, revenue promises made before anyone has seen your business, and anything your team can't run without them.
01
Seven questions to ask
Question 2
What does it cost, all in?
A number, in writing: the fee, the software you will pay for each month, and who pays for it during the project.
Question 3
Whose name are the accounts in?
Yours. The phone number, the software logins and the data stay with the business if you part ways.
Question 4
What would you leave alone?
A clear answer about the work that should stay with a person. Anyone who says AI can do all of it has not looked at your business yet.
Question 5
How will we know it worked?
One or two numbers picked before the work starts (calls answered, quotes sent, hours saved) and read together at the end.
Question 6
Who does the work?
The person you met, or a named person you can talk to. Find out early if the build goes to a team you will never meet.
Question 7
How do I stop?
Month to month after the first project, with nothing that breaks when the consultant leaves.
02
Red flags
- No price until after a long discovery call, or a price that changes once you are in.
- A long contract for a business that has never seen the work run.
- Accounts, phone numbers or data held in the consultant's name.
- Promises of a specific revenue number before anyone has looked at your business.
- A demo of a tool instead of questions about how your week goes.
- Nothing your team can run after the consultant leaves: no walkthrough, no how-to.
- Customer messages that go out without anyone at your business approving the wording.
One of these on its own may have a good explanation, so ask. Two or three together, and I'd keep looking.
03
A consultant, a firm, or a tool
An independent consultant is usually one person who scopes the work and builds it. You talk to the same person the whole way through, and there's a limit to how much one person can take on at once.
An AI consulting firm brings more hands and can run bigger projects. The person who sells the project often isn't the one who builds it, so ask to meet the builder.
A packaged tool, like an AI receptionist app, is the cheapest way in when you have one clear problem. Setting it up and keeping it working takes hours out of your week. If phones are the only problem, read what an AI receptionist costs before you hire anyone.
04
My answers to the same questions
Hold me to these
$2,000 for the first 30 days, in writing
- I start with a morning in your business, following how a call turns into paid work.
- The price is on this site. I pay for the tools during the sprint.
- Every account is opened in your name and stays yours.
- The one-page plan names what I'd leave alone and the numbers we'll read on day 30.
- I do the work myself, and you can text me directly the whole 30 days.
- After day 30, keep me on for $1,500 a month at the founding rate (regular $2,500), month to month, or run it yourself with the how-tos.
Every sprint comes with a written guarantee, spelled out in the one-page plan before you say yes.
05
Who's doing the work
I'm Ben Johnson. My family and I live in Montgomery. Most of my career happened on a screen, and I want the next chapter to be with businesses I can drive past.
At Amazon I managed hundreds of millions of dollars a year in business. Then I built and ran a portfolio of consumer brands that grew to $80M+ a year. Today I lead growth and operations for a handful of consumer brands and media companies, mostly by fixing how leads, orders and money move through each business.
I do the work myself. The person who walks through your business in week one is the person who builds your system.
15 yrs in growth. 0 yrs in your trade. You'd teach me that part.
06
Questions owners ask
What should I look for when choosing an AI consultant for my small business?
Someone who starts with how your business runs before talking about tools, puts the full price in writing, sets every account up in your name, tells you what not to automate, agrees on how success gets measured before work starts, and lets you leave month to month. Ask who does the work.
What are the red flags when hiring an AI consulting firm?
No published or written price, a long contract before you have seen anything work, accounts held in the firm's name, revenue promises before anyone has looked at your business, a tool demo in place of questions, and nothing your team can run once the firm is gone.
What's the difference between an AI consultant and an AI consulting company?
An independent consultant is usually one person who scopes the work and builds it, so you deal with the same person throughout. A firm brings more people and more capacity, and the person who sells the project is often not the person who builds it. Either can be right. Ask who does the work and who you call when something breaks.
How much should a small business pay an AI consultant?
It depends on how they bill: by the hour, by the project, or a monthly retainer. My prices are published: $2,000 for a founding 30-day sprint, then $1,500 a month at the founding rate if you keep me on (regular $2,500). The cost page compares that with what AI help usually costs.
Next step
Ask me all seven.
Pick a time on my calendar, or email me and ask for a one-page plan for your business. I'll write down what I'd fix first, what it costs, and the guarantee that comes with it.
Zygo Consulting, Ben Johnson, Montgomery, TX. AI implementation for local businesses in Montgomery, The Woodlands, Conroe, Spring, Magnolia and north Houston.