When we talk to SME owners about AI automation, the first question is always the same: "What's the ROI?" It's a fair question. AI is an investment, and every investment should be measured by its returns. Here's what the data actually shows.
The cost of doing nothing
Before calculating the ROI of automation, consider the cost of the status quo. If your team of 10 spends an average of 15 hours per week on repetitive tasks at $35/hour, that's $273,000 per year spent on work that a machine could do. That's not a technology problem — it's a business problem.
What SMEs typically save
Across our 50+ client engagements, we've seen consistent patterns in cost savings and efficiency gains:
- 40% average reduction in operational costs for automated processes
- 60-85% reduction in time spent on repetitive tasks
- Near-zero error rate on data entry and document processing
- 3-5x improvement in customer response speed
The payback period
Most of our clients see positive ROI within the first 30-60 days. The automation pays for itself through a combination of direct labor savings, error reduction, and increased capacity to handle more business without adding headcount.
We saw ROI in the first month. The document processing automation alone saved us more than the entire monthly cost of the service.
Beyond cost savings
The numbers above only capture direct savings. The indirect benefits — faster lead response leading to more sales, happier employees leading to lower turnover, better data leading to smarter decisions — are often worth even more. These are harder to quantify but show up clearly in quarter-over-quarter growth.