Recurring Cost Audit

Business Context: Independent Marketing & AI Consultancy (Singapore-based)

Known Issues: “Subscription creep” from multiple AI tools and high overhead from a premium coworking lease.

1. Cost Audit

The following recurring expenses represent the baseline “keep-the-lights-on” costs for the consultancy, totaling approximately $4,250/month (excluding payroll).

• Premium Coworking Office (CBD Singapore): $2,800/mo
• AI Tool Suite (ChatGPT Plus, Claude Pro, Midjourney, Perplexity): $110/mo
• Marketing Automation (HubSpot Starter, Mailchimp): $150/mo
• Professional Software (Adobe CC, Canva Pro): $95/mo
• Infrastructure (Google Workspace, Wi-Fi 7 Managed Service, AWS Hosting): $450/mo
• Administrative (Accounting Software, Professional Insurance): $645/mo

2. Issues Found

• Functional Overlap: Maintaining both HubSpot and Mailchimp creates redundant costs for email marketing and CRM storage.
• AI Tool Redundancy: Subscriptions to four different LLM interfaces (ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, API-driven tools) lead to overlapping capabilities for 80% of daily tasks.
• High Fixed Infrastructure: The office lease accounts for over 65% of all recurring non-labor costs, a high ratio for a consultancy that primarily operates at client sites or NTU.
• “Zombie” Licenses: Several Adobe CC seats are active but have not been logged into for 30+ days.

3. Savings Opportunities

4. Risks

• Workflow Interruption: Removing a specific AI tool might break existing automated prompt workflows that rely on that specific model’s logic.
• Collaboration Friction: Reducing the physical office footprint may impact the ability to host ad-hoc brainstorming sessions for NTU project partners.
• Feature Loss: Consolidating CRM platforms may result in the loss of specific “niche” features that one platform handles better than the other.

5. Recommendations

• Immediate: Conduct a “Productivity Audit.” If a team member hasn’t used a specific AI tool or Adobe seat in the last 14 days, de-provision the license immediately.
• Short-term: Migrate all email lists to HubSpot and cancel Mailchimp by the next billing cycle to eliminate the $150/mo redundancy.
• Strategic: Upon the current office lease expiration, move to a “Member-only” hot-desk plan in Singapore rather than a dedicated private suite. This aligns costs with the reality of your mobile consultancy work.
• Technical: Transition from individual Pro subscriptions to API-based usage via a unified interface where possible, ensuring you only pay for the tokens you actually consume.

[…]