Why Your Clients Will Replace You With a $19 Subscription (Unless You Do This First)
It's becoming quite an easy decision for them.
TLDR;
AI tools are coming for every job—not someday, now.
The solution isn’t to fight it. It’s to build your own branded AI tool using vibe coding.
Your existing client relationships + your methodology = a defensible moat.
This mirrors the “website moment” of the early 2000s. Those who adapted, survived.
I’ve been an investment preparation consultant for close to 15 years. I’ve helped over 100 companies raise capital through pitch decks, financial models, and business plans.
Here’s the uncomfortable reality I’m facing: Claude can now produce a decent 3-statement financial model for $19/month. Not perfect—but 70% there.
When I charge $5k for that same deliverable, my clients are starting to notice the math doesn’t add up.
The Numbers Are Brutal
A study published in Organization Science found that after ChatGPT launched, freelance writing jobs dropped 21%, while earnings declined even further. Designers and image editors? Down 9.4% in income.
Here’s what really caught my attention: the researchers found that higher-skilled freelancers were hit hardest. The AI leveled the playing field—suddenly, less experienced workers could produce outputs that approximated top-tier quality.
That’s not theoretical. That’s happening right now on Upwork and Fiverr.
The Website Parallel
Remember when businesses needed websites? Before that shift, local shops survived on foot traffic and Yellow Pages listings. Then Amazon and e-commerce changed everything.
You either had a website, or you didn’t. If you didn’t, customers eventually just... left.
We’re approaching another inflection point. Except this time, you’ll need your own version of an AI tool.
Your Fingerprint Is The Asset
ChatGPT is the internet—it’s the infrastructure. But nobody searches for “the internet.” They search for specific solutions.
Your 25 clients aren’t looking for “generic AI tool.” They’re looking for the methodology and judgment that made them hire you in the first place.
That’s the opportunity.
Build a tool that uses YOUR design methodology. YOUR templates. YOUR decision frameworks. When those clients consider jumping to a $19 AI subscription, yours is the first alternative they’ll try.
If your tool passes the normal tests? They’ll stick with you at $39—maybe $49—because migration costs are real and trust is expensive to rebuild.
Vibe Coding Made This Possible
You’re not a developer. Neither am I. But here’s what’s changed: vibe coding—building software by describing what you want in plain language—went from experiment to reality in 2025.
92% of US developers now use AI coding tools daily. Among Y Combinator’s Winter 2025 cohort, 21% of companies have codebases that are 91% AI-generated.
Tools like Cursor or Lovable let non-technical founders build functional applications in hours. I’ve been testing this for 12 months, and the improvement curve is steep.
What I’m Actually Doing
My team and I are building our own signature financial modeling tool. You probably won’t hear about it—because that’s not the point.
The objective is simple: retain existing clients by offering what generic AI tools offer, but with our fingerprint added for a slightly higher price.
This creates a decision framework for clients:
ChatGPT: Generic tool for everything, $19
Random AI finance startup: $29
AI finance tool from someone they’ve worked with for years: $39
Switching costs are real. Relationships matter. Your existing material and experience is the training data that no other AI tool has access to.
The people who survive this won’t be the ones who fight AI. They’ll be the ones who use it under their own brand before their clients find a cheaper alternative.
What’s your defensible moat?