"A new tool rarely fixes a process nobody understands. It usually makes the confusion faster." That matches almost every small business AI project I have seen go wrong.
Your four questions are a good scoping document on their own. If an owner can say what happens today, what a good result looks like, where it breaks and who owns it, they have already described one problem clearly enough to test a tool against, or to ask someone to build for a fixed price. If they cannot answer the second question, no tool will help yet.
The one task trial is the right size too. Timing the task before and after, even roughly, gives a real number to decide on instead of a feeling after a demo.
I would add one note to "the human always decides": write down what the person is checking for. Approval without a clear check tends to become a click after a few weeks. Do you suggest owners keep a short checklist for the approver?
"A new tool rarely fixes a process nobody understands. It usually makes the confusion faster." That matches almost every small business AI project I have seen go wrong.
Your four questions are a good scoping document on their own. If an owner can say what happens today, what a good result looks like, where it breaks and who owns it, they have already described one problem clearly enough to test a tool against, or to ask someone to build for a fixed price. If they cannot answer the second question, no tool will help yet.
The one task trial is the right size too. Timing the task before and after, even roughly, gives a real number to decide on instead of a feeling after a demo.
I would add one note to "the human always decides": write down what the person is checking for. Approval without a clear check tends to become a click after a few weeks. Do you suggest owners keep a short checklist for the approver?