Free small-business AI planning worksheet

Find the expensive leak before you automate.

Estimate one operational opportunity using your own baseline, conservative assumptions, full workflow costs and a controlled pilot.

Seven-page PDF · No email required

Measured baselinesConservative assumptionsFull workflow costControlled pilot

Start with a real business signal

Your first AI project should solve an expensive problem—not create an impressive demo.

Demand exists, but response or routing is inconsistent.

The next action is known, but the process still waits.

Back-and-forth or abandonment prevents completion.

Manual work consumes valuable capacity every week.

Inside the calculator

Record volume, leak rate, response time and completion using actual business data.

Use contribution value and a realistic recovery assumption—not top-line wishful thinking.

Include implementation, software, review, monitoring, exceptions and controlled changes.

Test one small workflow change with a success measure, guardrail, owner and review date.

A more credible starting point

×A missed enquiry is not automatically a lost sale.

×Saved time is not automatically cash.

×A planning estimate is not a guaranteed result.

Start with one costly workflow

Complete the baseline, identify the smallest workflow change worth testing and decide using observed evidence.