You do not need industry statistics to judge an automation. You need three numbers from your own business and a few minutes with a calculator.
On this page
The three numbers
- How often the problem happens. Missed calls per week, invoices chased per month, forms retyped per day. Count for one or two weeks.
- What each instance costs. The value of a job you lost, or the minutes of work multiplied by the hourly cost of the person doing it.
- How much the automation would realistically change. Be conservative: it will not fix every case.
The simple formula
Annual value ≈ (times per year) × (cost each) × (share the automation would fix). Compare that figure with the quote. Guess cautiously for the share, then try a more pessimistic number. If it still looks sensible, it is a reasonable bet.
Do not forget the other side
- Ongoing costs, such as software subscriptions and any monitoring.
- Your own time to review and answer replies.
- Risk: what is the cost of an error, and how is it prevented?
When it is probably not worth it
- The task happens rarely.
- The cost of each instance is tiny.
- The process itself is unclear. Fix the process first.
Getting a quote you can evaluate
A good quote states scope, what is included and what is not, and what you own at the end. See how AI automation pricing works and our approach to pricing. We scope and quote each job in writing after a free conversation.
Common questions
How long until an automation pays back?
It depends on the numbers above. Work it out per project rather than trusting generic claims.
Should I trust ROI claims from vendors?
Treat them cautiously unless they show the inputs.
Tell us what is slow, manual or missing
Free, plain-English conversation. We reply within one business day with a read and a scoped, written quote.
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