AI consultant for small business · San Diego
I’m not a tech guy. I run my whole business on AI anyway.
I’m Eddie Flores, a San Diego AI consultant for small business and host of the San Diego AI Guild. I started out as a photographer and videographer, and I don’t write code. I tell the machine what I need in plain words, and I check its work. That’s how I run the shoots, the clients, the calendar and the content by myself. I have peace. I’m not overwhelmed. I’m only one person, mind you. I’ll show you how I do it. Then I’ll help you build yours.
Sound familiar?
Every question in your business lands on you.
You’re up at 5. By noon you’ve answered the same question four times, chased two invoices, and promised yourself you’ll “look into AI” this weekend. You tried ChatGPT twice. It sounded smart and got your business wrong. So you went back to doing it all yourself.
You’re tired. And tired people need tools, not lectures.
I’m gonna give it to you simple. AI is a tool, not a toy. Use it for a real purpose and it takes the repeat work off your plate, so you can do the part only you can do and get home. It’s that simple.
Don’t tell me, show me
The receipts.
470+ hours, measuredbuilding my own AI system
190+projects run through the CRM I built
As of October 2026. Counts only. I never post what any of it is worth in dollars, because that isn’t the point.
Why it pays off
Get your week back. Keep your people.
Fewer tools, not more. Fewer hours on the work that never needed you in the first place.
Stop being the bottleneck
When the repeat questions and follow-ups get handled, your business stops waiting on you to move. Things keep going even when you’re out.
Your team gets sharper
People who know how to use AI on their own work get faster and more confident. They stop bringing every small question to you.
Time goes where it matters
The hours you win back go home with you. Dinner, practice, the people who were waiting on you all along.
Tell me the one thing that eats your week, and let’s see if AI can take it.
The honest way
How I count my hours.
Anybody can say they’ve “spent thousands of hours on AI.” Here’s how I count mine. Every working session leaves a log. I add up the active time, and any pause longer than 30 minutes counts as zero, even if I was just sitting there reading. The number I publish is that strict one.
And it’s a floor, not a total. The logs from before April 2026 didn’t survive, so none of that time counts at all.
Two ways to count the same work
| How it’s counted | Hours | Published? |
|---|---|---|
| First message to last message, no rules | over 10,000 hours | I don’t publish this one |
| Every pause over 30 minutes counts as zero | 500+ hours | This is the one I publish |
Men lie, women lie, numbers don’t. So I give you the smaller one.
Pick your lane
Two ways to work together.
“My team keeps asking me how to use this stuff, and I don’t have time to teach them.”
AI training for your team
I teach your people to use AI on the work they actually do this week. Their real emails, their real quotes, their real follow-ups. Plain words, real screens, no slides full of buzzwords. Training your people does more good than most fancy automation ever will.
“I know exactly what eats my week. I just need it built.”
A done-with-you build
We pick the one thing that eats your week, the quotes, the follow-ups, the scheduling, the inbox, and we build the system that handles it, together, with as few new tools as possible. When we’re done, you know how it works, and you can fix it when it breaks.
One rule for both: you can’t automate a mess. We organize first, then AI, using the OOPS Method I run my own business on.
Every business is different, so there’s no price list here. Tell me what eats your week first. I’ll tell you straight if AI can take it, even if the honest answer is “not yet.”
My own business, first
What one non-technical guy built.
Before I build anything for you, I build it for me. The CRM that runs my bookings, my invoices and my calendar. The dashboards that tell me what needs me today and what can wait. The system that keeps my content moving. The archive that tracks every client shoot since 2010. A few apps my own family uses at home.
None of it was written by hand. All of it runs my real life, today. That’s the point of showing you. If an everyday guy can build this, your excuse just left the room.
More on how I use AI
The full exhibit
Want to see the whole thing?
I keep the full exhibit in one place: every build, what it does, and what it would take to hire people to do the same work. Go poke around. Then come back and tell me which part you want for your business.
How it works
Four steps. One thing at a time.
Tell me what eats your week
One line is enough. The thing you’d hand off tomorrow if you could.
I show you my screen
Most of the time I’ve already solved the same kind of problem in my own business. You see it working before we touch yours.
We train or we build
One thing at a time. Not twelve tools. Not a six-month project. The one thing that buys back the most of your week.
You run it without me
That’s the finish line. If you still need me to run it, I didn’t do my job.
Straight talk
Who this is for, and who it isn’t.
This is for the owner who is the bottleneck of their own business. The one who’d rather be home by six. The one who has never been technical and is a little embarrassed to be a beginner again. Being at zero feels vulnerable. I know. I started there too.
It isn’t for anyone hunting for a magic button, a guru, or a stack of thirty subscriptions. If you want somebody to promise you AI will run your business by Friday, I’m not your guy. Stop asking “can I do this, yes or no.” Start asking how.
Questions people ask before they reach out.
Do I need to be technical?
No. I’m a photographer and a videographer. I don’t write code. If you can explain your business to a new hire, you can explain it to AI. That’s most of the skill.
How much does an AI consultant cost in San Diego?
It depends on the job, so there’s no price list on this site. Teaching a team of five and building a system for your whole sales process are different projects. Tell me what eats your week and I’ll give you an answer up front, before anything starts.
Which AI tools do you use?
The best AI tool at any given moment, and right now that’s Claude. Plus a short list of tools I’ve actually tested in my own business. I’d rather you pay for two or three tools that work than twelve you forget about.
Will AI replace my team?
Not the way I use it. It takes the repeat work off their plate, so they do more of what only people can do: answer the phone like a human and take care of your customers.
Is my business data safe?
We go slow on that part on purpose: what goes in, who can see it, and what never leaves your hands. If a tool can’t answer those questions clearly, it doesn’t make the list.
Can you train my whole team at once?
Yes. That’s one of the two ways in. For sure, both. In person here in San Diego, or over Zoom if your team is spread out.
Is there a free way to start?
Yes. The San Diego AI Guild is my free room for local business owners. Real tools, real prices, built live, and nobody sells in the room.
What does an AI consultant do for a small business?
I find the repeat work that keeps landing on you, then either teach your team to hand it to AI or build the system that handles it, with you. Organize first, then AI. The finish line is you running it without me.
AI training or an AI build, which do I need?
If your people keep asking how to use AI, start with training. If you already know the one job that eats your week and you just need it built, that’s a build. Not sure? Tell me what eats your week and I’ll tell you straight.
I tried ChatGPT and it got my business wrong. Why would this be different?
Because it didn’t know your business yet. Most bad answers come from a bad setup: no context, no examples, no rules. We fix that part first, on your real work, and the answers get a lot better.
Will I be stuck needing you forever?
No. The finish line is you running it without me. You see every step as we build it, so you know how it works and how to fix it.
Why a photographer and not an IT firm?
Because the goal isn’t more tech. It’s a system that fits how you already work. I run a real small business on this every day, so I build for owners, not for IT departments.
My promise
The Run-It-Without-Me Promise.
I tell you straight up front if AI can take the job, even when the answer is “not yet.” If it can and we build it, the finish line is you running it without me. If you can’t, I keep working with you at no charge until you can, for up to 30 days.
How it works
- The straight answer comes before anything is quoted.
- On a build: you’re part of the build and the walkthrough, you use it on real work, and you tell me about a problem inside the 30 days after we hand it off.
- On training: if your team isn’t using it on real work 30 days later, I come back for one follow-up session, free, in person or on Zoom.
- It covers what we built or taught. A new job is a new conversation.
Ready when you are
What eats your week?
Name the one thing. One line is plenty. I’ll write back with an honest read on whether AI can take it. Just start there.
I read every message myself and reply within one business day.