Where are the hours going?
Track one week of learning, prompting, rebuilding, and correcting AI output. Include the reading and troubleshooting that never appear on an invoice. That is time your business cannot use twice.
What is that time worth?
Compare the hours with the work they displaced: client delivery, proposals, follow-ups, or decisions. Then compare that cost with getting help. Do not assume you lost a customer without evidence; identify the work that actually slipped.
What needs to get working first?
Choose one recurring task that keeps taking your evenings. Decide who should build the solution and how you will know it helped. Doing it yourself can be sensible. Paying someone can also fail if the result never gets used. Make the choice with the full cost visible, then put any recovered time where you want it.
Sources
Sources
- JPMorgan Chase Institute: understanding the use of AI among small businesses (published April 14, 2026). 4.6 million firms, 2019 to 2025. 17.7 percent had adopted AI by December 2025; 26.1 percent of employer firms, 15.3 percent of nonemployer firms. Adoption defined as having ever paid for an AI service.
- Jeff Fargo, Fargo Factor Insight: I Didn't Know What a Loop Was. Now I Build Systems.
- Jeff Fargo, Fargo Factor Insight: AI Gave Me Time Back, Not More Revenue
Transcript
Verbatim from the Fargo Walks clip, as recorded.
You've decided to take on AI all by yourself, because then it's free. You're going to save money. And that's what it's all about, saving money, right? So think about the time you're spending on AI, if you even get to it, and then look at all the customers you've lost to your competition because now you're working in your business instead of on it. You still paid. You just never got the invoice. I'm Jeff Fargo. I can help you streamline and scale your business with AI. Go forth.