Is a chatbot actually worth it? The ROI math for small business

"Is a chatbot worth it?" is really a math question, not a hype question. Here's the back-of-napkin version.

Start with your repeat questions

Pull up your last 100 chats. Most small businesses find that 5-6 questions — pricing, hours, shipping, returns — make up 60-70% of the volume. That's the chunk a chatbot answers instantly, every time, without a human typing a word.

Put a number on the time saved

If an agent spends even 90 seconds per repeat question, and the bot handles 200 of those a week, that's five hours back — roughly the cost of the chatbot subscription itself, before counting a single new lead.

Then count the leads you were missing

A chatbot doesn't clock out. Nights, weekends, and the 2am browser who's ready to buy all get an instant answer instead of a closed tab.

The real answer

For most sites getting steady chat traffic, a chatbot pays for itself in saved agent time alone — everything after that is upside.

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