TEAMSolutions Group Sales Enablement & Advisory · Symphony · Automation Expert
AI and Automation for Small Business | Melbourne & Surrounds

Your business runs on your time.
Let's get some of it back.

I help small business owners fix the work that's eating their week. Enquiries piling up. Admin that should have been done days ago. Quotes, bookings, follow-ups, all sitting on you. Practical AI and automation, built around how your business actually works. No lock-in. No hype.

Business owner working late at night

Sound familiar?

💬

You're answering the same ten customer questions every single day. It's eating hours you don't have.

📋

Invoices go out late because admin always comes last. The actual work takes priority and the paperwork piles up.

🧠

You've got leads in your inbox, your texts, and your head. No system pulling it all together.

😶

You looked into AI once, got overwhelmed by the options, and went back to doing things the way you always have.

👥

Your team's worried AI means fewer jobs. You're worried it means more complexity on top of everything else.

🕐

A customer enquired after hours last night. You'll get to it tomorrow. By then, they've called someone else.

None of this means your business is broken. It means you're doing too much manually and there's a faster way. We hear these exact things every week from business owners across Melbourne and the Peninsula. And we also hear what happens when someone tries to fix it the wrong way. Stitching together five different tools with another monthly subscription doesn't solve the problem. It just moves it somewhere harder to see.

And you're not imagining the urgency. A 2025 national study of over 1,000 Australian SMEs found that 83% believe AI will impact their business within 12 months. Only 39% feel confident acting on it. Nearly half are experimenting with no formal plan. The biggest barrier after budget? Simply not knowing where to start. (Decidr / Nature, National AI Readiness Index 2025, n=1,042)

Did you see the A Current Affair report?

Some marketing agencies are trapping small business owners in long contracts and ripping them off.

A Current Affair recently ran a story on it. Landing pages with spelling errors. Fake reviews. Owners locked into contracts they couldn't get out of, sent to debt collectors when they tried. I've been calling that out for years.

Most of those businesses didn't need a fancy lead funnel. They needed someone to look at their operations honestly. Where the admin was falling down. Why customers weren't getting quotes back fast enough. The boring stuff that actually moves the needle.

The agencies in that story were never going to fix any of that. They were selling a product, not solving a problem. The whole game was locking people into contracts with no way out, ticking up the recurring revenue. The owners who got hurt the most were the ones who didn't have time to look closely at what was being promised because they were too busy running the business.

That's the conversation I want to have. One free hour. No contract. No obligation. If we work together, great. If not, that's fine too. I may even point you toward someone better suited.

A Current Affair report on AI marketing scams
Book the hour → or watch the full pitch → see what's involved

Four things that make an immediate difference

All built around your specific business, not a generic template. The work starts with understanding what's actually slowing you down. Then I build the right solution, not the most complicated one.

01

Stop answering the same questions over and over

Your customers, patients, or clients ask the same things every day. Pricing, hours, bookings, what you do. An AI customer coach handles those conversations 24/7 in your business voice. Sounds like you, not like a generic chatbot. Captures leads, answers FAQs, books appointments, qualifies enquiries.

  • Handles FAQs, booking enquiries, and lead qualification
  • Learns your business language and tone
  • Works 24/7 across your website, socials, or messaging
See if this fits your business →
02

Get on top of the admin that's eating your week

Invoicing, follow-ups, reporting, patient notes or job sheets, data entry. The work that piles up Sunday night when you finally sit down. I map what you're actually doing, then automate the parts that don't need a human. Connects to the tools you already use, like your accounting software, booking system, or practice management software.

  • Integrates with your existing systems, not against them
  • Automated invoicing, reminders, and job tracking
  • Less manual work, fewer things falling through cracks
See if this fits your business →
03

When no app does what you need

Sometimes there's no app for what you do. The way your business actually runs is too specific, too layered, or just doesn't match what's out there. I build the thing you need. Scoped properly, launched in weeks, not months. Built around your workflow, not bent to fit someone else's.

  • Custom apps and progressive web applications
  • Built around your specific workflow
  • From scoping to launch in weeks, not months
See if this fits your business →
04

A website that actually brings work in

Your website should pull its weight, not just sit there. Booking forms that sync to your calendar. AI chat that handles enquiries. Intake forms that flow straight into your existing systems. Mobile-friendly, fast, built for the business, not as a brochure.

See if this fits your business →
What most AI providers do

They ask what you want, then stitch together five tools with webhooks, Zapier, and a CRM you didn't ask for. You get an $8K invoice, three new monthly subscriptions, and a system only they can maintain. Six months later, something breaks and you're back to square one. With a bill.

What I do instead

The work starts with understanding what's actually blocking your business. I talk to you about your team, your processes, and what happens when you go on holiday. Then I build something that addresses the real problem, not just the symptoms. Something your people will actually use. Something you can understand and control.

I don't quote before I listen

Every engagement starts with understanding your business properly. Not your tech stack. What you do, who does it, where the bottlenecks are. I don't assume I know what you need. I ask, I listen, then I build.

01

Diagnose

I start by understanding where your time and money are actually going. What's manual, what's repetitive, what's falling through the cracks.

02

Align

We agree on what's worth solving first and what success actually looks like. Before anything gets built.

03

Design

I map the solution. The right tools, the right integrations, built around how your business actually operates.

04

Coach

I don't disappear after launch. I stay close, refine what needs adjusting, and make sure you're getting the outcome I promised.

Not sure where to start? That's exactly what this is for.

Most AI assessments quiz you on your tech stack and send you a sales pitch. Ours starts with your people, then your operations, then your tools. Because that's the order that actually matters.

  • Takes 7 minutes. 18 plain-English questions.
  • No signup required to see your results
  • You get a personalised action plan, not a maturity score
  • Includes your top 3 quick wins for the next 30 days
Take the Check-Up →
Sample Readiness Overview
People & Leadership72%
Operations & Workflow48%
Technology & Tools65%
Your #1 Quick Win

Standardise how you capture customer enquiries. One central place instead of inbox, texts, and memory. This alone can save 3-5 hours per week.

What happens when we go deep

When we saw how broken enterprise sales tools were, we didn't patch together existing software. We built Symphony from scratch. An AI-powered deal intelligence platform that takes sales teams from document to deal-ready in under 10 minutes.

This is the depth we bring to every project. Whether it's an enterprise platform or a booking bot for your clinic.

Explore Symphony →
Symphony AI-Powered Deal Intelligence Dashboard

Rick has a passion for getting it right. The added bonus is the technical background. He thinks through strategically how best to help the client.

Steve H.

Chief Product Officer, IMS

Rick has the unique ability to see the whole picture. He connects with users to understand the business problem and shape the best solution.

Andrew M.

Partner, Elysium Digital

Rick has excellent sales and entrepreneurial skills. We have been able to do a lot of good business together.

Martin M.

Owner, Meier Business Systems

Family spending time together

I know what it costs when your business takes all your time

I spent almost 25 years on the road. Enterprise sales across Asia Pacific. Building businesses, hitting targets, proving myself.

What I didn't do was make it to enough birthdays. Enough family dinners. Enough walks on the beach. Enough movie nights on the couch where nobody needed me to be anywhere else.

I know the value of time more than most. Not in a productivity sense. In a life sense. The normal moments and the special ones. I missed too many of both.

That's why this work matters to me. When I help a business owner automate the admin that keeps them at their desk until 10pm, I'm not just saving them hours. I'm giving them back the things that actually matter. The things you can't invoice for and can't get back.

Built by someone who runs a business, not just builds technology

I know how hard it is to run a small business and the problems that come with it.

Rick van Driel

I started selling fruit off the back of a truck when I was 17. Then I joined the Army, where I was managing budgets up to $20 million. After that I've spent the last 27 years in sales, solutions, and leadership. Some of those roles meant expanding hardware and auction businesses. Others meant scaling software operations globally with companies like IBM and TechnologyOne in the mix. I've also managed a 30-person consulting firm delivering solutions across Asia Pacific.

What all of that means is I have a unique perspective. I understand how small businesses operate, and I understand how large ones do. That gives me the ability to take lessons learned at enterprise grade and bring them to small business owners at a cost and a scale that actually fits.

The technology side is what I bring. The operator's understanding of what it takes to run a business day-to-day is what most consultants don't have. I've sat through the late nights chasing things that should have been done. I've made the calls that didn't go well. I've had the weeks where everything piled up at once.

I'm local. I work with small business owners across Melbourne, the Mornington Peninsula, Bayside, and Casey. If you're not sure where to start, or whether AI is even the right answer for your business, that's exactly the kind of conversation I want to have.

Rick van Driel, Automation Expert

Straight talk on what things cost

Every business is different, so every solution is different. A chatbot for a physio clinic looks nothing like workflow automation for a trades company with 15 staff. It shouldn't cost the same either.

  • We scope before we price. Always.
  • We build to suit your budget, not ours
  • Most clients start small and expand as they see results
  • No lock-in contracts. No hidden fees. No surprises.
  • We'll never recommend something you don't need
  • If AI isn't the right answer for your problem, we'll tell you

Why does pricing vary?

The honest answer: because the work varies. A simple FAQ chatbot is a very different build than a fully automated quoting and invoicing workflow.

Pricing depends on the complexity of what you need, how much customisation is involved, whether it's a one-off project or an ongoing service, and the level of support and refinement you want after launch.

We'll always walk you through what things cost and why before you commit to anything. No surprises. That's a promise, not a tagline.

Want to know what's actually possible for your business?

Let's have a straight conversation about where AI can help and where it can't. No pitch deck. No pressure. Just practical answers.

Or leave your details and we'll reach out.

No spam. No sales scripts. Just a real conversation when the time suits you.

Book the hour
AE
Your Site Coach
AI for Small Business

Got a question about your business?

Chat with our AI Coach to explore how automation, AI, and a better website could save you time and win you customers.

This is an example of what we build. Your AI coach would be tailored to your business, your brand, and your customers.