Most SMEs do not need AI. They need five things to happen by themselves.
Following up enquiries. Confirming bookings. Drawing up quotes. Answering customer questions in the evening. Sending invoices. Those are the five places time leaks out of an SME. Whether there is a language model behind it or simply a well-built automation should not interest you — as long as it works.
You get an overview of where time leaks out of your business, with a figure attached. No sales pitch.
Patrick De Swert
I ran a business for 30 years and now build the systems that take the work over. I am not selling you AI — I am selling you the hours that come back.
Three questions. Three yesses and it pays off.
Take a task that costs you time and hold it against these three conditions. That is the whole decision — you do not need a consultant for it.
Does it happen at least 5× a week?
Something that happens once a month is quicker done by hand than built. Frequency is what makes a system pay.
Does it follow the same rules every time?
Can you explain how you do it, step by step? Then it can be built. Does it come down to your gut feeling each time? Then it cannot.
Does it take more than 10 minutes each time?
Under ten minutes the gain is too small to cover the build. Above it, things start adding up — five times a week is already four hours a month.
Wait.
Then it is too rare, too unpredictable or too small. You would be paying for something that does not pay itself back. I would rather say that now than after the invoice.
Then it is worth the money.
Frequent, predictable and time-consuming — that is exactly what a system does better than a person. And it works on a Sunday evening too.
What it costs you now, in euros.
Three tasks that turn up in almost every SME. Do the sums and see whether you recognise yourself.
Following up enquiries
Typing emails, chasing by phone, reminding, keeping track of who has been contacted.
per year — and that is before the enquiries left sitting
See how this works →Bookings and orders
Through an ordering platform, with commission on every order plus a monthly subscription.
per year — at € 4,000 of online revenue a month
See the hospitality package →Questions outside opening hours
Someone asks about your prices, your hours or your lead time in the evening. You only read it tomorrow.
whoever compares in the evening, chooses in the evening
See how this works →The software costs little. The building is the investment.
You sometimes read that automating costs “a few cents per task”. That is about the software running underneath, and it is true — that part is cheap.
What costs money is the working out and the building: exactly how your process runs, which exceptions sit inside it, how your tools hang together, and getting it working without anything falling through the gaps. That is work, and that is what you pay for.
I would rather be straight about that than have you surprised by the quote.
one-off, depending on scope
monitoring, adjustments and support · first month included
My rule: it is only worth it if it pays for itself within the year. We work that out together up front — if the numbers do not come out, I do not build it.
I run on it myself.
My own lead engine finds companies, collects and de-duplicates them, sends ten personalised emails a day and follows up on day 3 and day 7. Replies and opt-outs are processed on their own. I only look at it when someone has replied.
Read the full case →Figures from the day-to-day running of ScaleOps, Beringen.
What business owners ask me.
Question not there? Just email it.
Isn't AI for SMEs really something for large companies?
The other way round. A large company puts someone on follow-up; you do it yourself, in between everything else. So the difference a system makes is bigger in a small business — you get back hours you were working yourself.
Do I have to replace my current tools?
No. I connect to your inbox, calendar, CRM, online shop and accounting package rather than replacing them. What you are used to stays. The difference is that they now talk to each other.
What if my process is too specific?
Usually it is less specific than it looks — it is often four or five fixed rules with a handful of exceptions. We write those rules out once, and the exceptions come to you as a notification instead of the system making a mess of them.
What if it doesn't work?
Then I rebuild it or you get your money back. Thirty days, no argument. I would rather sell you nothing than something that does not run — that is in my own interest too, because a system that does not work costs me more support than it earned.
How long does it take?
Ten to fifteen working days for a first working system. From you it takes about an hour of input: explaining how you do it today. The rest happens here.