If you're a business consultant, you've probably experienced this tension: clients want feasibility analysis, but producing it manually takes 2–6 weeks of research and modelling. The revenue per engagement is good, but the throughput is limited. You can only serve so many clients at a time, and each study requires significant hands-on effort.
AI feasibility tools have fundamentally changed this equation. A comprehensive feasibility study that previously required 40–80 hours of analyst time can now be generated in minutes — with real market data, financial modelling, and interactive scenario analysis. For consultants, this isn't a threat to your business. It's an opportunity to dramatically increase throughput, margins, and client value.
The Consultant's Opportunity
The Traditional Model
A typical consultant engagement for a feasibility study looks like this:
- Client engagement and scoping: 4–8 hours
- Market research: 20–40 hours
- Financial modelling: 15–25 hours
- Report writing and review: 10–20 hours
- Client presentation and revisions: 5–10 hours
- Total: 54–103 hours over 3–6 weeks
- Typical fee: $5,000–$25,000
At 80 hours average and a $15,000 fee, the effective hourly rate is approximately $188/hour. Solid — but limited by capacity. A solo consultant can deliver maybe 4–6 studies per quarter.
The AI-Augmented Model
With AI feasibility tools, the workflow transforms:
- Client engagement and scoping: 2–4 hours
- AI-generated feasibility study: 8–15 minutes
- Review, customisation, and augmentation: 4–8 hours
- Client-specific additions (primary research, site visits, regulatory review): 5–15 hours
- Client presentation and revisions: 3–5 hours
- Total: 14–32 hours over 1–2 weeks
- Fee: $3,000–$15,000 (lower turnaround justifies slightly lower fee, but volume compensates)
At 20 hours average and a $8,000 fee, the effective hourly rate jumps to approximately $400/hour. And capacity increases from 4–6 studies per quarter to 12–20.
The result: Higher hourly rate, higher total revenue, faster client delivery, and more capacity for additional services.How to Integrate AI Feasibility Into Your Practice
Step 1: Use AI for the Heavy Lifting
Generate the base feasibility study using an AI tool. This produces the market analysis, financial model, NPV/IRR/payback calculations, and sensitivity analysis in minutes. The AI handles the 60–70% of the work that involves data gathering, number crunching, and report generation.
Step 2: Add Your Expertise
This is where your value as a consultant shines. The AI provides data and calculations; you provide interpretation, judgement, and customisation.
What you add that AI can't:- Industry-specific expertise and pattern recognition
- Local market knowledge and relationships
- Primary research (customer interviews, site assessments)
- Regulatory and compliance assessment specific to the client's jurisdiction
- Strategic recommendations based on experience
- Customisation for the client's specific circumstances
- Personal presentation and defence of the analysis
Step 3: Deliver a Premium Product
The final deliverable combines AI-generated data and analysis with your expert overlay. The client receives a feasibility study that has both the breadth of AI research (covering more data points than manual research could achieve in the same timeframe) and the depth of human expertise.
Step 4: Offer Ongoing Value
The initial feasibility study opens the door to additional services: business plan development, implementation support, investor introductions, ongoing advisory. The speed of AI-generated feasibility means you can validate concepts quickly and move clients into higher-value implementation work faster.
Revenue Model for Consultants
Option A: Feasibility as Lead Generator
Offer rapid AI-powered feasibility validation at $1,500–$3,000 (you buy the AI study for $200–$500 and add 2–4 hours of expert review and customisation). This lower-priced service attracts more clients and converts a percentage into full consulting engagements worth $10,000–$50,000.
Option B: Full-Service Feasibility with AI Foundation
Deliver comprehensive feasibility studies priced at $5,000–$15,000, using AI for the base analysis and spending 15–25 hours on customisation, primary research, and strategic overlay. Your margins improve dramatically compared to the fully manual approach.
Option C: Volume Play for Specific Industries
Specialise in a specific industry (e.g., hospitality, healthcare, real estate) and use AI to rapidly generate feasibility studies at scale. Serve 15–25 clients per quarter instead of 4–6, at $3,000–$8,000 per study. Total quarterly revenue: $45,000–$200,000 from feasibility work alone.
Revenue Comparison
| Model | Studies/Quarter | Avg Fee | Quarterly Revenue | Hours/Study | Effective $/hr |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional (manual) | 4–6 | $15,000 | $60,000–$90,000 | 80 | $188 |
| AI-augmented (full service) | 10–15 | $8,000 | $80,000–$120,000 | 20 | $400 |
| AI-augmented (volume) | 15–25 | $5,000 | $75,000–$125,000 | 12 | $417 |
| AI lead gen + upsell | 20–30 + upsell | $2,500 + $15,000 | $50,000 + upsell | 4 + upsell | $625+ |
How to Position AI-Augmented Feasibility to Clients
Transparency works. Don't hide the fact that you use AI tools — position it as an advantage:
"We use AI-powered research technology that analyses real-time market data from thousands of sources in minutes. This gives us broader data coverage than traditional research methods. We then apply our 15 years of industry expertise to interpret the data, customise the analysis for your specific situation, and provide strategic recommendations that no AI tool can offer."
This framing positions AI as a research accelerator, not a replacement for your expertise. The client gets better data coverage AND expert interpretation — a genuinely superior product compared to either AI alone or traditional consulting alone.
Getting Started
Immediate Actions
- Run a test study on a past client's concept using SimpleFeasibility. Compare the AI output to the study you delivered manually. You'll likely find that the AI covers comparable ground in the market analysis and financial modelling.
- Identify your value-add — the specific expertise, primary research, and strategic insight you bring that the AI doesn't. This becomes your differentiation.
- Restructure your pricing to reflect the new cost base. You can charge less per study (winning more clients), maintain current pricing (improving margins), or charge more for the enhanced product (AI data breadth + expert depth).
- Create a service tier that uses AI-powered rapid feasibility as the entry point, with upsell to comprehensive consulting for clients whose concepts validate.
The Bottom Line
AI feasibility tools don't replace business consultants — they supercharge them. The tedious, time-consuming parts of feasibility analysis (market research, financial modelling, scenario calculations) are automated. The high-value parts (expert judgement, client relationships, strategic insight, primary research) remain firmly in your domain.
The consultants who adopt these tools early will serve more clients, deliver faster, earn higher effective rates, and capture market share from slower-moving competitors.
SimpleFeasibility generates the foundation — real market data, NPV/IRR/payback modelling, interactive What-If analysis, and professional Excel models. You add the expertise that turns data into strategic insight. Explore SimpleFeasibility for Your Practice →Related Articles: