LLMs in Business: Where to Start Without Breaking the Bank

# LLMs in Business: Where to Start Without Breaking the Bank

Getting started with large language models doesn't require a $500K budget. The democratization of APIs and no-code tools makes generative AI accessible to businesses of all sizes.

Where to Start (Budget Under $5K)

Step 1: Identify 3 High-Impact Tasks

LLMs excel at tasks where human judgment adds limited value:

• Meeting minutes and summaries
• First-level customer support
• Sales drafts and proposals

Step 2: Use Existing APIs

GPT-4o, Claude, Gemini APIs cost pennies per request. For an SMB of 10-50 people: $200-$500/month all in.

Step 3: Choose the Right Approach

• **Prompt engineering** — 80 % of use cases, no code needed
• **RAG** — 15 %, connect an LLM to your knowledge base
• **Fine-tuning** — 5 %, only for very specific tasks

Year 1 Budget (SMB 10-50 People)

• LLM APIs: $3,000-$6,000/yr
• No-code tooling: $0-$2,000/yr
• Training (2 people): $1,500-$3,000
• **Total: $6,500-$16,000**

Pitfalls to Avoid

• Don't automate everything at once — start with one process
• Don't overlook data quality — output depends on input quality
• Don't forget security — anonymize sensitive data before using public LLMs

Start small, measure everything, iterate fast. That's how SMBs succeed with AI.