Guides
Straight answers to the questions small businesses ask us about AI and automation, written by the two of us.
AI-made vs filmed video: when each is right
AI-made video suits explainers, product walk-throughs and social clips, where speed, cost and easy updates matter. Film real people when trust depends on seeing them: customer stories, your team and your premises. Many businesses use both.
Cecelia · 02 Nov 2026How to write a brief for a product demo video
A good brief answers five things: who the video is for, the one thing they should do after watching, what to show, where it will be posted, and anything that must or must not be said. Half a page is enough.
Cecelia · 02 Nov 2026What does an explainer video cost in the UK?
A bespoke 60-second animated explainer from a UK studio typically costs £3,000 to £10,000, according to UK studio pricing guides updated in 2026, and simpler motion-graphics work can start around £1,500. AI-made explainers cost less because there is no animation team or film crew: ours are typically £300 to £1,500, quoted per brief.
Cecelia · 02 Nov 2026What does a 20-minute daily task really cost a year?
Twenty minutes every working day adds up to about 87 hours a year: 20 minutes, five days a week, 52 weeks. If an hour of that person's time costs you £25, that's around £2,170 a year, for one small job nobody thinks of as expensive.
Savior · 02 Nov 2026AI receptionist for missed calls: what it does and what it costs
An AI receptionist answers the calls you can't, using your script and your hours, books appointments into your calendar, and sends you a transcript and summary of every call. Ours is £499 to set up and £79 a month, with call minutes billed at cost.
Cecelia · 02 Nov 2026Local AI vs ChatGPT and Claude: what it really costs
For a few people on standard subscriptions, cloud AI is usually cheaper. Running open models on your own machine starts to pay off with a bigger team, heavy API use, or when keeping documents in the building matters. Ten people on £25 subscriptions spend £9,000 over three years; a £2,499 Mac Studio with our £6,000 setup comes to about £8,800 over the same time.
Savior · 02 Nov 2026What hardware do you need to run AI locally?
It comes down to memory. Compressed to the usual size, a small model (7 to 8 billion parameters) needs about 4 to 5 GB, a mid-sized one (around 30 billion) 16 to 24 GB, and a large 70 billion one about 40 to 48 GB. For most small businesses, a Mac Studio from £2,499 or an NVIDIA DGX Spark at about £5,249 is enough. Graphics cards for PCs are selling at several times their list price, so this is a bad time to build one.
Savior · 02 Nov 2026Private AI for law firms: the SRA warning and what to do
On 17 August 2026 the SRA warned that putting confidential client information into public AI tools is likely to breach confidentiality and may permanently waive legal privilege. Running AI on the firm's own hardware keeps client documents inside the firm, but it doesn't make you compliant on its own: you still need the safeguards, supervision and checking the SRA expects.
Savior · 02 Nov 2026
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