What a two-hour subscription review saved us

We recently went through every software subscription Narrative pays for, line by line, with AI doing most of the work. In about two hours we removed around €1,000 a month in costs.

Where the savings came from

• Subscriptions we no longer used. Most were small. The AI went into each service and cancelled it.
• Plans larger than we needed. For a bigger group, the AI compared what we actually use with what each plan includes, and moved us to cheaper plans that still fit.
• Duplicates. In a few cases we were paying more than one subscription for effectively the same service.
• Simple workflows. A handful of subscriptions did little more than run a basic workflow, so the AI built a replacement.

Why most owners cannot do this yet

This worked because we use AI every day and understand what current models can and cannot be trusted to do. Most small business owners do not have that expertise, or the time to build it, so costs like these keep leaving the account every month.

Where Coach starts

That is why Narrative Coach begins with costs. Its Money Actions look through the business’s own spending for costs worth reviewing and explain what to do about each one. The owner decides what to act on, and Coach continues to monitor the results. Owners in our three-week paid pilot also compared service providers and cut costs.

The savings are useful in their own right. They also give an owner a reason to come back in the first weeks, which is how a working relationship builds, and from there Coach can help with larger questions, such as preparing for a quieter season or planning the next investment. For the bank or lender providing Coach, that early value is what brings owners back between product needs.