AI automation · Merrimack Valley · North Shore · Southern NH

“How could AIhelp my business?”That's the question I answer.

You don't need an "AI strategy." You need someone who'll look at how your business actually runs and find the two or three things worth automating — to save time, save money, or both. I run two roller rinks, I did it for my own business first, and I'm relentless about it.

Text Jeff · (978) 801-1452 Email instead
11systems built in a year
3agents on autopilot
0developers hired
5paid services replaced
▶ Tap to play (60s)
“

I didn't know AI could do all that.

What I hear every time I show someone this stuff. That's why I started Owner Built.
How I think

Every task gets the same three questions

Can this be automated? Can it be made easier? Can it be made cheaper? Usually at least one is yes — and when none are, I'll tell you that too.

Relentless trial and error

I don't stop at "that tool can't do it." I try the API, the export, the browser, the cheap USB dongle — whatever works. Most of what's on this page took three tries.

Operator first, techie second

I've stood at the counter on a Saturday with the Wi-Fi down. I build for the rush, the new hire, and the day you're not there — not for a demo.

Cheap by default

Free tiers, tools you already pay for, and systems you own outright. Five of the things below replaced a monthly subscription. Most of them cost $0 a month to run.

What this looks like at a business like yours

Where I'd look first

You don't have to know what's possible. That's my job. Here's the kind of thing that usually turns up in a 15-minute conversation.

Restaurant · café · snack bar

Orders, inventory, reviews

An order board on any TV instead of a monthly kitchen display. Weekly sales by item and hour, emailed Monday morning. A draft reply to every Google review for you to approve.

Gym · studio · rink

Memberships that run themselves

Sign-up to billing to renewal with no invoices. A nudge to members who haven't checked in for three weeks. Class or session schedules that update the website on their own.

Contractor · trades

Quotes and follow-ups

Every estimate you send gets a follow-up a week later, automatically. Photos from the job become the invoice line items. A timeclock that exports straight to payroll.

Salon · barber · spa

Rebookings and no-shows

Clients who haven't booked in six weeks get a personal text. A waitlist that fills a cancellation in minutes. Product reorders flagged before you run out.

Retail · shop

Prices, stock, and the website

Supplier prices checked monthly and your point-of-sale updated. New products added to the site with photos. A dashboard with both locations on one screen.

Any office

The weekly thing you dread

The report you build by hand. The spreadsheet you copy numbers into. The emails that all say the same thing. Those are the first things to go.

Proof · real systems, running today

What I built for my own business first

Every one of these started with the same question and is live at Roller Kingdom in Tyngsboro and Hudson, MA. The screenshots are the actual tools. If it works in a roller rink on a Saturday, it'll work for you.

Custom DMX light show controller for a roller rink floor
Light show

A light show that runs itself

21 fixtures, four shows, run from a web page any staff member can use. No lighting console.

Skipped the pricey lighting software
Self-hosted employee timeclock timecards page with ADP export
Payroll

Our own employee timeclock

The existing clocks push punches to our system. It rounds, flags missed punches, and exports straight to payroll.

Monthly fee gone
$ wednesday-tickets · every Monday
✓ Logging into the booking system
✓ Creating this week's tickets
✓ Updating the website banner
✓ Verifying the live page
Done — nobody touched it
Runs every Monday

Tickets & website update themselves

An AI agent updates our online ticket listings and the website every week, on a schedule.

On autopilot
$ booking-recovery · every Tuesday
✓ Pulling incomplete orders — both locations
✓ Cross-checking against completed bookings
✓ Drafting the follow-up email
Draft ready to review & send
Runs every Tuesday

Lost party bookings get chased

Finds bookings that never finished checkout and drafts the follow-up for me to send.

Recovered real bookings
Snack bar order board showing the latest Square order on a TV
Snack bar

Orders hit the screen the second they're paid

Square tells our TV about every snack bar sale. No kitchen-display subscription.

$0/month
Custom Square sales dashboard for two locations
Reporting

A sales dashboard that refreshes itself

Pulls Square sales for both locations every five minutes. Today, 7 days, this month — one click.

Custom-built
Monthly Skate Pass membership page
Recurring revenue

A membership that bills itself

Sign up once. Square charges monthly and the pass renews — no invoices, no chasing.

Paying members from day one
Song request and DJ tip web app on a phone
On the floor

Song requests from your phone

Skaters request songs and tip the DJ through Square — no app download.

Live at the rink
$ supplier-price-watch · 1st of the month
✓ Checked 576 products on 3 supplier sites
✓ 2 price changes, 1 new model, 1 dropped
✓ Update file prepped for point-of-sale
✓ Product photos pulled for the new item
Report ready — nothing changed without a yes
Runs every month

Supplier prices and new products, watched for me

An agent checks our skate supplier's whole catalog monthly, flags what changed, and preps the update for our point-of-sale and the website's skate shop.

576 products · 0 hours of mine
$ party-rebookings
✓ Reading last year's parties off the calendar
✓ Matching each to its booking contact
✓ Writing a personal "book again" note
Ready to send — customers rebook
Rebookings

Last year's party customers, invited back

Pulled every private party off last year's calendar and reached out to each one.

One list, real rebookings
$ seo-agent
✓ Crawling the website
✓ Auditing titles, descriptions, headings
✓ Rewriting the weak ones
✓ Pushing updates to WordPress
Site updated
Website

An agent that audits and fixes our SEO

Crawls the site, rewrites weak pages, and pushes the fixes itself.

Runs on demand
How it works

No audit. No retainer. No jargon.

1

A free 15-minute look

Tell me the one thing you do every week that drives you nuts. I'll tell you honestly whether it's worth automating — and sometimes the answer is no.

2

A fixed quote

One task, one price, one deadline. Usually a week or two. No surprises.

3

I build it. You own it.

Logins and code in your name. I show you and your staff how it runs, and I'm a text away if it hiccups.

Pricing

Simple, and you own everything

Every project gets a fixed quote after the free look. These are founding-client rates: my first five clients get 25% off any project in exchange for an honest review and a short case study.

Quick win
$150–$300 one-time

One task, done.

  • A screen, a report, a form, a follow-up
  • Built on tools you already pay for
  • Delivered in about a week
Most popular
$400–$900 one-time

A real system.

  • Timeclock, order board, dashboard, membership
  • Replaces a monthly subscription
  • Staff trained, documentation included
Agent on autopilot
$49–$99 /month

Runs on a schedule, forever.

  • Weekly listings, booking follow-ups, reports
  • Monitored — I fix it if it breaks
  • Cancel any time, keep what's built
Who you're working with

Jeff — the owner who built it

I've been running Roller Kingdom — two roller rinks in Tyngsboro and Hudson, Massachusetts — for about twenty years. Marketing, payroll, the website, the signage, the lights. I'm not a developer. In 2025 I started using AI to build the tools I'd always wanted and couldn't afford, and I haven't stopped.

The difference between me and an agency: I've stood at the counter on a Saturday. I know what "the Wi-Fi dropped and the screen froze" costs you, and I build for that.

Run a rink or FEC? Start here →

The timeclock and snack bar systems running on Cloudflare Workers

Where the timeclock and the order board actually run. Hosting cost: $0/month.

Service area

In person across northeast Massachusetts and southern NH. Remote anywhere.

NewburyportAmesburyHaverhillAndoverLowellChelmsfordTyngsboroDracutWestfordNashua, NHSalem, NHPortsmouth, NHHudsonMarlboroughFraminghamBeverlySalem, MAPeabody
Questions

Straight answers

What kind of businesses do you work with?

Local, owner-run businesses: family entertainment centers and roller rinks, restaurants and snack bars, gyms and studios, salons, contractors, small retail. If you have a weekly task you do by hand and a system it lives in — Square, a booking tool, a spreadsheet, a calendar — there's probably something worth automating.

Do I need to be technical?

No. I run two roller rinks and I'm not a programmer. I build with AI tools and hand you something you can run without me.

What does it cost?

The first 15-minute look is free. Most one-time projects run $150–$900 depending on scope, and agents that run on a schedule are $49–$99 a month. You get a fixed quote before anything is built.

Do I own what you build?

Yes. Code, logins, and accounts are set up in your name. If we stop working together, everything keeps running.

What if it breaks?

Anything on a monthly plan is monitored and I fix it. One-time projects come with 30 days of fixes included, and I'm a text away after that.

Is this ChatGPT?

Sometimes AI is part of what gets built (an agent that reads a report and drafts an email). Often it isn't — a timeclock is just a timeclock. I use AI to build fast and cheap, and I use it inside the tool only where it earns its keep.

Free 15-minute look
Ask me: "How could AI help my business?"

Or just tell me the one task you hate doing every week. I'll say honestly what's worth automating, what it would cost, and how long it'd take. No pitch deck.

Text (978) 801-1452 Call Email