Tool
AI readiness checklist for a small business
Sixteen questions about the things that decide whether anything can be automated in your company: where your data lives, whether the work repeats the same way, who would own the system, and what your tools allow. Answer honestly and the score tells you where to start.
The checklist
Tick what is true today
Not what you plan to fix this quarter. The score is only useful if the unticked lines are honest.
0of 16
Groundwork first
Most of the answers are no, which usually means the raw material is missing rather than the will. Automating on top of scattered records copies the mess and speeds it up. The useful next move is small and boring: put every enquiry in one place, write the price list down, take your accounts back into your own name.
- Data0 / 4
- Processes0 / 4
- People0 / 4
- Tools0 / 4
Nothing is sent. The copy button puts the list on your clipboard, that is all.
Most of the answers are no, which usually means the raw material is missing rather than the will. Automating on top of scattered records copies the mess and speeds it up. The useful next move is small and boring: put every enquiry in one place, write the price list down, take your accounts back into your own name.
Enough is written down and enough is accessible to take a single process end to end. Pick the one people complain about, map it as it actually runs today, and connect that one. The rest of the checklist becomes easier to answer once one process is running and visible.
Data, process, owner and access are in place, so several processes can be connected in one system instead of one at a time. The work then shifts to sequence and rules: which channel first, who approves what, and what happens when the system is unsure.
What to do first
Three next moves, by where you landed
Nothing here needs a supplier. One place for enquiries, a written price list, accounts in your own name, one person who can decide. When you want a second opinion on the order, the reading is AI automation for a small business.
Take the task people complain about, write down how it runs today, and connect that one before anything else. That is exactly what AI automation covers, priced per process.
With several candidates the sequence matters more than the tooling. An audit is one call and a written plan with a price per process, and you are free to build it with anyone.
How this is scored
One point a line, four groups, no weighting
Every ticked line is worth one point and no line counts for more than another. There are four groups of four so a company that is strong in tools and empty in data cannot hide behind an average, and the panel shows each group separately for the same reason.
The three bands are ranges of ticks, not predictions: 0 to 5, 6 to 11, 12 to 16. They describe what is in place today and what the sensible next step is. They say nothing about how much time automation would save you or what it would cost, because sixteen yes or no answers cannot know that.
The questions come from what actually blocks these projects for us: scattered records, a process nobody can describe the same way twice, no named owner after handover, and accounts held in somebody else’s name. Every one of those has stopped real work, which is why they are the questions and not a longer list.
Questions
About this checklist
What does this AI readiness checklist actually measure?
Four things that decide whether a system can be built at all: whether your data sits somewhere it can be read, whether your processes have a repeatable shape, whether a person will own and approve the work, and whether the tools you already pay for can be connected. It measures readiness of the ground, not the size of the opportunity.
How should I read a low score?
As a list of preparation, not as a verdict. Every unticked line is a task you can do yourself with no supplier: one inbox instead of four, a written price list, accounts in your own name, one person who can decide. Those are worth doing whether or not you ever automate anything.
What does the checklist not tell you?
Whether automation is worth the money for your business, what any of it would cost, and which process to start with. Those depend on volumes, on how much time the work eats today and on what your tools allow, and they come out of a call and a look at the actual work, not out of sixteen yes or no answers.
Do you keep my answers?
No. The page runs entirely in your browser, there is no form and no email field, and nothing is sent anywhere. The copy button puts your answers on your clipboard so you can paste them into a message or a document if you want to keep them.
Want the order written down for your business?
An audit is one call, a look at how the work runs today, and a written plan with a price per process.