How to Start an AI Agency for Local Business Owners

Chris Koerner, who owns eight RV parks and multiple businesses, spent a week at a Mexican resort with 150 doctors — each making $500K to $5M per year. He gave a keynote on implementing AI in their practices. Not one attendee knew what an "AI wrapper" was. Only 20% had ever uploaded a file to an AI tool. He couldn't finish his two-hour talk because the room had too many questions. His conclusion: business owners outside the tech bubble are not aware of, or using, AI — and they are desperate for someone to help them do three things: solve problems, save money, and make money. This post earned nearly 2,900 likes because it articulates what many experienced entrepreneurs already sense: the biggest AI opportunity isn't in building another SaaS tool, it's in becoming the local expert who shows established businesses what's already possible.

The Local AI Agency Playbook

Koerner's approach is deliberately low-tech on the sales side: rent a conference room, promote the event with Facebook ads and Eventbrite, give a free workshop demonstrating AI tools applied to problems specific to that industry (dental scheduling, contractor estimating, restaurant inventory), then have someone sign attendees up for a paid service in the back of the room. He reports knowing at least ten people running this exact model today and generating five-figure monthly recurring revenue within days of their first event — not months. The key insight is that the gap between what AI can do and what local business owners know it can do is still enormous. A dentist who sees that AI can handle patient scheduling, insurance claim follow-ups, and appointment reminders in under an hour of setup will pay $1,000–$3,000 per month without hesitation. The barriers to entry for an AI agency targeting local niches — healthcare, legal, construction, HVAC — are genuinely low if you're willing to learn the tools and get in front of the right rooms.