Begin by offering AI consulting or services. This provides immediate cash flow and deep customer insights with a 70-80% margin. Use this experience to document workflows and then productize the solution into a scalable software product with ~95% margins.
Avoid trendy, saturated markets. Instead, focus on stable, 'boring' industries that are slow to innovate and still rely on manual processes. These markets are ripe for disruption, have less competition, and typically offer higher margins for AI solutions.
Frame initial customer conversations around seeking advice on their biggest AI automation needs. This lowers their guard, provides valuable feedback, and often leads them to sell themselves on your future solution, making pre-selling easier.
Instead of offering generic bonuses, design them specifically to address the primary reason a customer might hesitate. For instance, if they're worried about implementation time, offer a bonus of free, hands-on team training to eliminate that specific objection and close the deal.
Adopt a 'long-term greedy' mindset. First, 'Sell' to validate the business. Second, 'Scale' by systemizing and raising prices. Finally, 'Stack' new offers, products, or even company acquisitions on top of your stable business to sell to your existing customer base.
Success can overwhelm a manual business. Proactively build an automated, four-step delivery system covering purchase, access, onboarding, and support. This 'vending machine' approach ensures your business can handle growth without being crushed by client work and support requests.
To avoid wasting significant capital on an underperforming developer, vet candidates by hiring them for a small, isolated test project first. Use platforms like Upwork for this initial trial to confirm their skills and work ethic before committing to a larger, more expensive build.