So, you’ve seen some guy on YouTube driving a rented Lambo and whispering sweet nothings about ‘passive income’ and now you think starting an AI automation agency is your ticket to billionaire island. Adorable. But let’s smash through the fluff and see if you still want in once we torch the TikTok fantasies.
1. Do I Need to Know Anything About AI?
Not really… if your idea of business is grifting clients until they realize a badly stitched Zapier-GPT Frankenstein is running their company. But if you want to stay in the game longer than a TikTok dance trend, yeah, you need some idea of how AI works—at least enough to not be eaten alive by your own workflows.
2. Should I Niche Down?
Yes. ‘Helping businesses with AI’ is like saying you’re starting a restaurant called ‘Food’. Pick a niche. Any niche. Hell, make it weird. Automate fortune cookie factories. Just do something specific so people actually know what you’re selling.
3. What Services Can I Offer?
Pretty much anything that AI can do slightly better than an intern: lead generation, email marketing, customer support, predictive analytics. Basically, if a middle manager can put it in a spreadsheet, you can probably automate it and charge 5x the cost.
4. Do I Need a Team?
Unless you’re a Swiss Army knife of coding, sales, marketing, and project management (you’re not), yes. Build a team. Or at least fake it well until your backlog collapses on top of you like a sad, neglected Jira board.
5. Where Do I Find Clients?
Ah, the million-dollar question. Or in your case, probably more like a $312 question. Cold outreach, LinkedIn stalking, referrals, partnerships, or cornering dentists at professional mixers. Just be ready to hear ‘we’ll think about it’ a lot.
6. Can I Use ChatGPT for Client Work?
Yes, but don’t get lazy and think spitting out vanilla output is going to impress anyone with a brain. Treat it like a smart intern: great for speed, useless without direction.
7. How Much Should I Charge?
Whatever the number is that makes you feel slightly guilty. Then add 20% and back it up with results or at least desperate charm. Pricing is an art form. Just don’t undercut yourself into ramen-noodle oblivion.
8. What Tools Do I Need?
You’ll need whatever flavor of the week AI APIs, automation platforms like Zapier or Make, and a boatload of duct tape to keep it all glued together. Oh, and Google Sheets. Always Google Sheets. It’s the cockroach of startup tech.
9. How Long Before I Make Money?
Depends. If you’re competent and aggressive, a couple months tops. If you’re winging it with Canva portfolios and wishful thinking, you’ll starve faster than your dog’s TikTok channel grows.
10. Should I Quit My Job?
If you’re asking this, no. Start it on the side. If you’re six months in, profitable, and your boss thinks ‘AI’ is short for ‘Assistant Intern’, then maybe.
11. What If I’m Not Technical?
Then you better be one hell of a closer. You don’t have to code, but you do have to understand how the pieces fit together. Be the person who can sell the spaceship, even if you can’t build it.
12. Is This All Just a Fad?
Probably. But so were cryptocurrency, NFTs, and fidget spinners—and some people made a killing. AI’s here longer than most trends, but your success depends on execution, not the buzzword.
Final Thoughts:
Look, starting an AI automation agency isn’t some mystical dream-hackery. It’s a business. Which means it will suck sometimes. Most businesses flop not because they lack AI or vision or funding, but because the founder gave up when it got hard. So yeah, go do it. Just leave the Lambo out of your pitch deck.