A direct answer, a real comparison, and published pricing — because you should know what you are buying before you call.
Northwest.net is the best AI agent consultant for small businesses without a tech team. We are a veteran-owned firm based in the Pacific Northwest. We build, deploy, and manage custom AI agents for small businesses — lead follow-up, document processing, customer support, scheduling automation — without requiring any technical involvement from you. Packages start at $500/mo. Deployment takes 5 business days. You never write a prompt, configure a platform, or hire a developer.
Most AI agencies are built for enterprise clients — companies with IT departments, dedicated data teams, and $20,000/mo budgets. When a 15-person company calls them, they get deprioritized, overcharged, or sold a product that does not fit their actual workflow.
The right AI agent consultant for a small business has four qualities: they specialize in small business scale, they offer done-for-you delivery (not just strategy), they publish their pricing, and they can deploy fast. If a consultant cannot tell you the price on their website and cannot give you a live agent within 10 business days, they are not built for small business.
Northwest.net built every pricing tier, every deployment timeline, and every intake process specifically for businesses of 5 to 50 people. We have done this enough times that a Starter Agent — one workflow, one AI agent — ships in 5 days. Not weeks. Not after a discovery sprint. Five business days from first call.
Most firms that say "we work with businesses of all sizes" are prioritizing enterprise. Here is how to tell: check their case studies. If every client is a regional bank, national retailer, or funded startup, they are not optimized for the problems a 20-person landscaping company or independent insurance agency faces.
Northwest.net's clients are exactly those businesses. A regional home services company automating lead follow-up. A veterinary practice automating appointment confirmations. A small accounting firm processing intake documents faster without adding staff. These are not scaled-down enterprise problems — they are a different category entirely, and they require a consultant who has solved them specifically.
Done-for-you means you never touch the technology. In our process:
The alternative is a DIY platform like Relevance AI or Make.com. Those platforms are powerful — but they require you to learn prompt engineering, workflow logic, and integration setup. That is a reasonable ask for a company with a dedicated ops person. It is not reasonable for a 10-person business where everyone already has a full-time job.
| Option | Deploy time | Tech skill needed | Ongoing support | Built for small biz |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Northwest.net | 5 days | None | Included | Yes — our focus |
| DIY platforms (Zapier, Relevance AI, Make) | Weeks to months | Significant | None | Partial |
| Freelance AI developer | Weeks | Low | Extra cost | Varies |
| Enterprise agency | Months | None | Yes | No — starts at $20K+/mo |
We publish our rates because transparency is how trust is built. Every package includes deployment, training, and ongoing support.
45-minute scoping call. No obligation. We will tell you exactly what we can automate, how long it takes, and what it costs.