Corner Store Consulting.
AI & operations help for small business

Everyone says AI will change your business. Nobody shows you how.

We do. We take the AI, analysts, and systems built for the biggest companies in the world and bring them to Main Street — to the everyday owner running a shop, a restaurant, a service business. You get a plain-English plan for where AI will save you hours and make you money. Run it yourself, or we'll build it with you.

See how it works

Free first call. One fixed fee, quoted before we start. No hourly billing.

Sound familiar?

You're the owner, the manager, the bookkeeper, and the marketing department.

You keep hearing you should be "using AI" — and have no idea where to start.
Your prices haven't really changed since you opened — or they change on gut feel.
Your evenings go to scheduling, invoices, and emails a computer should be handling.
You're paying for marketing and can't say which of it actually brings people in.
The numbers that matter live in your head, a spreadsheet, or nowhere at all.

None of this means your business is broken — and you don't need to become a tech person to fix it. You need someone who knows both AI and business, whose entire job is finding this stuff in yours. That's us.

What you get

A plan, not a pitch deck.

We spend time inside your business — on site, in your books, with your team. Then you get a written plan that says, in plain English, exactly where AI fits in your business, where it doesn't, and what to change first. It's yours to keep whether or not you ever hire us again.

  • Every manual task worth automatingAnd the specific tool to do it — booking, invoicing, reminders, scheduling, paperwork.
  • What your prices should beBased on your own numbers and demand, not what you charged in year one.
  • Where your marketing money actually goesWhat's bringing customers in, and what to cut.
  • The handful of numbers to watch every weekSo you always know how the business is really doing.
How it works

Three steps. The third one is optional.

STEP 01

We learn your business

On site and in the numbers. How work gets done, how prices get set, where the hours and the money go.

STEP 02

You get the plan

Written, prioritized, and in plain English — what to change, what it costs, and what it's worth. We walk through it together.

STEP 03

We build it with you Optional

If you want help, we set up the tools, build the systems, and train your team — then hand you the keys.

What this looks like

Say you run an indoor kids' playground.

Here's where we'd look first. The actual plan depends entirely on your business — this is the shape of the work, not a promise of findings.

Where the hours and dollars go

  • Party bookings handled by phone, text, and memory
  • Staff schedules built by habit, not by busy hours
  • Party and membership prices unchanged for years
  • Front desk buried in waivers and reminder calls
  • Ad spend with no idea what's working

What the plan would cover

  • Booking, reminders, and waivers that run themselves
  • Schedules matched to when families actually show up
  • Pricing tied to your calendar — weekends aren't Tuesdays
  • Routine admin handled by AI instead of your staff
  • One weekly view of the numbers that matter

Illustrative example only — not a past client, and not a claim about results. Every plan is specific to the business it's written for.

Pricing

One fixed fee. You'll know it before we start.

  • The plan is a fixed fee, quoted after a short call about your business.No hourly billing. No meter running. No surprise invoices.
  • The plan stands on its own.You can take it and run it yourself — hiring us to build is always optional, and always priced before any work begins.
  • If we don't think we can help, we'll tell you on the first call.This only works if the plan is worth multiples of what you pay for it.
Questions owners ask

The fine print, up front.

What does it cost?+

One fixed fee for the plan, quoted before we start — after a short call where we learn about your business. The call is free. No hourly billing, and if you want help building afterward, that's a separate price you'll see before any work begins.

How much of my time will this take?+

As hands-on or hands-off as you want to be. Some owners want to be in every conversation; others hand us the keys and meet us at the plan. Either way, your business keeps running the whole time — the digging through systems, numbers, and processes is our job, not yours.

Do I need to be a tech person?+

No, and you won't need to become one. The plan is written in plain English, every recommendation comes with the specific tool and what it does, and if we build it with you, your team gets trained before we hand over the keys.

You'd be looking at my books. Is this confidential?+

Completely. We keep everything about your business confidential, and we're glad to sign an NDA before we see anything if that makes you more comfortable. Nothing about your business is ever used publicly without your written permission.

How long does it take?+

Most plans are delivered within 30 days of our first day on site, though it depends on the business and the scope.

What if I already use some software, or I've tried AI tools before?+

Even better — that's a head start, not a problem. Part of the plan is looking at what you already pay for: what's earning its keep, what's the wrong tool for the job, and what you're paying for twice.

Is this about replacing my employees?+

No. It's about getting the paperwork, reminders, scheduling, and busywork off of everyone's plate — including yours — so your people can do the work that actually needs a human. What you do with the hours you get back is your call.

What kind of businesses do you work with?+

Owner-run businesses across the Southeast — shops, restaurants, services, entertainment — usually with one to a handful of locations. If we're not the right fit, we'll tell you on the first call.

Adam Bates, founder of Corner Store Consulting Who's behind this

Built by an investor who's done this work for institutions.

Adam Bates has led investment teams deploying institutional capital and helped scale businesses like Topgolf. Corner Store Consulting brings that same playbook to Main Street.

Get started

Thirty minutes. Your business. No pitch.

Tell us what you run and what eats your time. The call is free — and we'll tell you honestly whether we can help, and exactly what it would cost.

Prefer email? [email protected]

Who we are

Adam Bates.

A private equity investor and operator, bringing a decade of institutional investing to the businesses that have never had access to it.

Adam has spent his career on both sides of the table — leading investment teams that decide where institutional capital goes, and operating inside high-growth companies in tech and entertainment.

From leading investments in companies like WHOOP, Liquid Death, and OpenAI and working to scale businesses like Topgolf and HomeLight, he knows what makes businesses go from good to great.

Adam Bates, founder of Corner Store Consulting
Work with us

Your business, examined like an investment.