The quote went out before anyone checked the numbers
Quotes leak more money than most owners realise, and AI-drafted quotes leak it faster. A simple approval path for contractors, workshops and service firms.
Insights
Notes from running our own companies.
What we learn putting sales follow-up, back office systems and AI to work, first in our own businesses and then in our clients'.
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Keep one client's facts out of another client's proposal
Reusing last month's proposal is how one client's numbers end up in front of another. A checklist for service firms, with and without AI.
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Write down what can go out without you
Every owner approves too much or too little. A short written list of standing approvals, each dated and limited, fixes both.
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Why a small East African firm can get its AI ready faster
Big firms are ahead on AI agents, but what agents need most is written context. A 20-person firm in Nairobi can produce that in weeks.
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Who is allowed to send what, and from which company?
When one team runs mail for several businesses, a message eventually leaves from the wrong one. A one-page sender table stops that.
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How to tell whether your AI rollout actually saved time
A four-column time log any owner can run for two weeks. It shows whether AI saved hours, where review ate them, and which part a company memory can fix.
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Count how many places one customer's details live
A customer moves office and the invoice still goes to the old address. A ten-minute count shows why, and which copy your AI tools are reading.
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Why your quotes take a week to leave the building
The quote itself takes an hour to prepare. The other six days are waiting. Where quotes sit, and how written approval limits get them out faster.
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McKinsey's 2026 AI survey, read from a 30-person firm
Nearly every company now uses AI, and the share seeing profit from it has barely moved in a year. Smaller firms trail on agents. Where that gap comes from.
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Buy the tool after you can draw the process on one page
A new CRM or AI assistant will copy whatever process you already have, including the gaps. Draw the process first. It costs a page and an afternoon.
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The follow-up everyone thought someone else had sent
A quote goes out, the client goes quiet, and two weeks later they sign elsewhere. Why follow-ups fall between people, and a simple way to own them.
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Five places money slips between the quote and the invoice
The job was done, the customer was happy, and the invoice still came up short. Where service firms lose money they already earned, and how to stop it.