FAQ / Everything we get asked
Questions we get on every first call.
Pricing, timelines, fit, tools, guarantees. Grouped by what operators actually search for. If your question is not here, ask it on the 30-minute scoping call. We answer every email we get.
Category 01
Getting started
Where to begin, whether you are ready, and what the first call looks like.
See the AI Readiness Audit01Will you tell me honestly if AI is not the right move right now?
Yes. The free assessment ends with a clear recommendation, including 'wait a quarter' when that is the honest answer. We are not paid on the assessment. We are paid on implementations that work.
02What if I already have AI tools but they are not delivering?
That is the most common situation we walk into. The audit will show where the gap is: usually the tools are fine, but they are not connected to the workflow that matters. We fix the connection.
03Do you work with companies outside Colorado and Arizona?
Yes. We have offices in Denver and Phoenix and work remotely with clients across the United States. On-site discovery days are available for an additional travel fee.
04How do I know if my business is ready?
If you have 5 or more employees, at least one workflow you want to automate, and willingness to give us real access for 2 to 4 weeks, you are ready. If you are not sure, the 30-minute scoping call is free and we will tell you honestly.
05How fast can we start?
Typical kickoff is 1 to 3 weeks after the scoping call. Urgent engagements can start within 5 business days when scope allows.
06What is an AI readiness audit?
A 2 to 4 week diagnostic where we map your workflows, identify the highest-ROI AI opportunities, and deliver a prioritized implementation roadmap with ROI projections and an 8-dimension readiness score. You leave knowing what to implement, in what order, and what each step will cost.
07How is this different from a free AI assessment?
Most free assessments are sales funnels for a six-figure proposal. Ours is a paid, operator-grade diagnostic with workflow maps, vendor short-lists, integration paths, and governance flags. We do not resell software, so the recommendations are neutral.
Category 02
Pricing and payment
What it costs, why it is fixed price, how installments work.
See all pricing01How much does AI implementation cost for a small business?
Our published bands: AI Readiness Audit from $3,500 to $8,500 (2 to 4 weeks). Implementation Sprint from $12,000 to $45,000 (4 to 12 weeks). Managed Services is a scoped monthly retainer. Big Four firms typically require a $500,000 minimum. We deliver equivalent strategic rigor at 50 to 70% less.
02Why fixed price instead of hourly?
Hourly billing rewards slow work. Fixed pricing rewards results. Once 'done' is defined in writing and priced, your risk is capped. If the work takes us longer than planned, that is our problem. If it takes less, you still get the full deliverable.
03Do you ever do hourly engagements?
No. We do not bill hourly. Audit and sprint are fixed price against a defined scope. Managed is a scoped monthly retainer with the coverage set in writing before kickoff. If the work you have in mind cannot be scoped in writing up front, it is not a fit for us yet.
04What is not included in the fixed price?
Third-party software costs (OpenAI, Anthropic, SaaS subscriptions, etc.) are yours and paid directly to the vendor. On-site travel beyond Denver or Phoenix is billed at cost. Anything outside the signed scope is a new sprint, not a change order.
05Can I pay in installments?
Yes. Audit: 50% at kickoff, 50% at delivery. Sprint: 50% at kickoff, 25% at midpoint acceptance, 25% at final acceptance. Managed: monthly in advance. All invoices are net-15.
06What if scope changes mid-sprint?
Small in-scope adjustments are absorbed. Medium ones are deferred and scoped into a second sprint. Large ones are quoted separately, in writing, before work starts. You always see the trade in writing, never a surprise invoice.
07How is the Managed retainer scoped?
Based on the surface area of what is deployed: number of workflows monitored, response SLA tier, and how many new automations per quarter you want inside the fee. Reviewed every quarter. Moves with your business.
08Are there industry discounts?
No. We price the work, not the industry. Published bands apply equally to law firms, HVAC contractors, and everyone in between. What the work takes is what it takes.
Category 03
Services and scope
Audit vs sprint vs managed. What ships. How scope works.
See all three services01What is the difference between the Readiness Audit and a Sprint?
The Audit tells you what to build. The Sprint builds it. The Audit is the diagnostic phase (2 to 4 weeks, $3,500 to $8,500 fixed). The Sprint is the build phase (4 to 12 weeks, $12,000 to $45,000 fixed). If you did the audit with us, the fee credits 100% against your first sprint.
02Do I need an Audit before a Sprint?
No. If you already know the scope of what you want built, start with a Sprint. The Audit is for when you are still deciding what to automate first, in what order.
03What happens if scope drifts mid-sprint?
The acceptance tests we signed at kickoff are the scope. A new requirement that shows up mid-sprint gets one of three answers in writing: absorbed (small), deferred (medium), or priced as a second sprint (large). No silent scope creep, no surprise invoices.
04Who writes the acceptance tests?
We draft them during the scoping call in plain English. You read them, push back where they are wrong, and sign. They are written so a non-technical operator can confirm 'yes, this is done' when they pass.
05Can you manage AI that someone else built?
Yes. The first 30 days of the retainer are designed for exactly this: full inventory, baseline measurement, documentation, and any standing issues triaged and fixed. You do not need to have built the original with us.
06What does onboarding look like?
Access handoff, workflow inventory, baseline measurement, documentation audit, and a kickoff call with your operators. Usually 1 to 2 weeks. We do not start billing for the full retainer shape until onboarding closes.
07Can we pause the retainer?
Yes. With 30 days notice you can pause. Any in-flight automation you are waiting on finishes first, then the pause kicks in. Resuming later does not restart the onboarding clock.
08How is the retainer scope adjusted?
Reviewed every quarter. If your surface area grew (new workflows deployed) or shrank (some retired), the retainer shape moves with it. Scope adjustments are proposed in writing at the quarterly review.
Category 04
Industries and fit
Whether we work with your industry and what the fit question looks like.
See all industry briefs01What industries do you serve?
Professional services firms, retail and e-commerce operators, healthcare and wellness practices, construction and trades businesses, and hospitality and food service companies. Our Denver and Phoenix teams cover the Rocky Mountain and Southwest regions, and we work remotely with clients across the United States.
02Do you work with my industry if it is not one of the five published briefs?
Maybe. The five verticals with dedicated briefs are where we have the strongest playbook. For adjacent verticals like legal-adjacent B2B services, wholesale, light manufacturing, and non-profit, we scope case by case on the assessment call. If we are not the right fit, we will tell you and often refer you elsewhere.
03What tells you an adjacent industry is still a fit for B:Side?
Usually three things: repeatable workflows, a real operator willing to let us inside the business, and data that is good enough to map the work honestly. If those are present, we can often help even when the vertical is not one of the five briefs.
Category 05
Tools and technical
Vendor neutrality, data residency, production-system access.
01What tools do you use?
Whatever actually fits your stack. We are vendor-neutral. Typical short-lists include OpenAI / Anthropic models, n8n / Make for lightweight orchestration, custom TypeScript for anything serious, and your existing SaaS tools for integrations. We do not resell any of them.
02Do you need access to our production systems?
Usually yes. We build in your real environment because sandbox builds break the week after handoff. We use read-only access where possible, scoped credentials always, and document every access in the handoff.
03What are the response SLAs?
Depends on tier. Starter: 2 business days. Operator: 1 business day. Enterprise: same business day. 'Response' means a human from the team on the file acknowledging and triaging, not fully resolving.
04Will your recommendations be vendor-neutral?
Yes. We do not resell software. We have no margin on your tool choices. What we recommend is what we would recommend if it were our own business. If the right tool is an incumbent you already pay for, that is often the answer.
05What about data residency, HIPAA, or privileged content?
For regulated workloads we design data flows so sensitive data stays inside your tenant (Azure OpenAI, private Anthropic deployments, or on-prem). We sign BAAs where required. We will tell you during scoping if a given workflow is a poor fit for off-the-shelf AI.
06Do we have to change our existing stack?
Almost never. Most shops already own 70% of what they need. The work is configuration, integration, and adoption. Replacements are rare and we flag them explicitly when they are the right call.
Category 06
Guarantees and risk
What the audit rebuild and sprint acceptance guarantees actually mean.
See the guarantees01What is the audit rebuild guarantee?
If the Readiness Audit roadmap is not actionable (no opportunities with positive ROI projection, or vendors that are not feasible in your environment), we rebuild it at no cost. You do not pay twice.
02What is the sprint acceptance guarantee?
Acceptance tests are written together at kickoff in plain English. Either the sprint passes them or we stay on until it does. You do not pay twice for the same deliverable.
03Can we cancel?
Yes. Thirty days written notice. No termination fee. We hand back every credential we held and deliver a final status report so your team can run the workflows without us if you choose.
Category 07
Working with us
Who is on your account, what the process feels like, how decisions get made.
01Who is on my account?
A senior advisor from kickoff to final delivery. The person on your first call is the person on your last. You will never be handed to a junior account manager after the engagement starts.
02Do you work with solo operators?
Sometimes. Below five total people the math usually argues for off-the-shelf tools rather than a custom build. We will tell you honestly during the scoping call and often refer you to a more appropriate partner.
03How do you handle ethics and client confidentiality?
Every engagement starts with a data-flow map. We deploy inside your existing tenant where confidentiality matters (Microsoft 365, Clio, Epic, etc.). We sign NDAs and BAAs as required. We do not train third-party models on your data.
04What does the contract look like?
One-page engagement letter for the audit. For sprints, a written scope with acceptance tests attached as an exhibit. For managed, a monthly retainer with 30-day exit and no termination fee. No surprise renewals, no auto-escalation.
Still have a question?
Most of what people ask on the first call is not in this FAQ. That is fine. The 30-minute scoping call is free and a senior advisor picks it up. If you just want to email us, that also works. We answer every email we get within one business day.
Two ways to ask
End of FAQ · Next step
Done reading? Start scoping.
Thirty minutes. No deck. A senior advisor on the call. We answer the questions you did not find here and tell you honestly whether we are a fit for your business this quarter.
What the 30 minutes delivers
- 01Two or three AI opportunities specific to your operation.
- 02A rough ROI range and a sense of which to build first.
- 03An honest answer: audit now, wait a quarter, or skip us.
Free · 30 minutes · No deck