An n8n agency for service businesses

ABAI is an n8n agency for service businesses: crane hire, coaching, property, solar and the firms like them. We build n8n workflows that take the repetitive work out of getting leads, closing deals and running the jobs behind them. Anwar Bouilouta, who founded ABAI, is a verified n8n creator, and much of what we've shipped for clients runs on n8n.

Four things are worth knowing before you hire one, us included: when n8n is the right tool, what we've built with it, how a project runs, and what to ask.

When n8n is the right tool, and when it isn't

n8n earns its place once a workflow stops being a straight line. A lead comes in, and what happens next depends on where it came from, whether it's a duplicate, and which rep is free. An invoice goes out, and the follow-up depends on whether it's been paid. n8n handles that branching well, and it lets you say exactly what should happen when a step fails, instead of the whole thing stopping quietly.

It also gets cheaper as you grow. n8n prices by execution, and an execution is one run of the whole workflow, however many steps it has. Tools that bill per task or per operation charge for every step, so a ten-step workflow that runs a thousand times costs very different amounts on the two models.

It isn't always the answer. If you need one form to drop a row into one spreadsheet, a simpler tool does that fine, and we'll say so. And if the real problem is that nobody agrees on how a job should flow from enquiry to invoice, no workflow tool fixes that. We'd start by writing the flow down with you.

What we've built on n8n

Every build below is a case study on this site, and each one runs on n8n.

[Crane Ops](https://www.abaisolutions.com/case-studies/crane-ops). Quote-to-cash software for crane hire, built as connected n8n workflows. Crews log field tickets from a phone, invoices go out in one click with standby and overtime already priced in, and payments reconcile. The firm had been losing two working days a week to invoicing and chasing payment.

[XPC Coaching](https://www.abaisolutions.com/case-studies/xpc-coaching). A coaching business was spending 2 to 3 days a month pulling check-in reports together by hand from several tools. Now each client's report builds itself before the call. In Caroline's words: "Clients are happy with the format and it's been a useful tool for us on calls."

[Appraisal CRM](https://www.abaisolutions.com/case-studies/appraisal-crm). A property appraisal firm used to chase every agreement and every invoice by hand. Now one move in their pipeline sends the agreement for signature and raises both invoices.

The pattern across all three is the same. The work was already happening, by hand, in a known order. n8n does it in that order, every time, and tells someone when a step needs a person.

How a project runs

A free 30-minute call first. We trace how a lead becomes a paying client in your business, show you the biggest gap, and give you a rough idea of what closing it is worth. If n8n isn't the fix, you'll hear that on the call.

A fixed fee, agreed in writing before work starts. You know the cost before we build anything. If the scope changes, we agree the change before doing it.

The build. We map the workflow on paper first, then build it in n8n with error handling on every step that touches money or a customer. You see it working on your own data before it goes live.

Handover. We walk whoever will look after it through each workflow before we step back. If you'd rather we keep running and improving it, that's a monthly retainer agreed separately.

What to ask any n8n agency before you hire them

These are the questions we'd ask if we were hiring one ourselves.

1. 1What happens when a step fails? A good answer names the alert, who gets it, and what the workflow does with the half-finished record. "It just retries" isn't enough for anything that sends an invoice.
2. 2Can I see a build that's running in a real business? Case studies with a named business behind them are worth more than a screen recording of a template.
3. 3Who owns the workflows when you finish? Get this in writing before the build starts.
4. 4How will my team change something small later? If every new field needs the agency, you've bought a dependency.
5. 5What will you not automate? An agency that never says no will build you something fragile. An engineering firm once asked us for ten AI agents. We ran the reliability numbers and recommended a much smaller system, and wrote up why.

Common questions

Do you only work in n8n? No. We pick the tool that fits the job and the tools you already pay for. The solar installer's lead engine runs into a Pipedrive pipeline, and the Naked Fungi store is built on Shopify. n8n is what we reach for most when several tools have to talk to each other.

Can you fix or extend an n8n setup someone else built? Yes. We'd start by reading what's there and writing down what each workflow does, because most problems in an inherited setup come from nobody knowing which workflow touches what.

Do you use AI inside the workflows? Where it does a job better than a fixed rule, yes. Drafting a personal follow-up after an event, as in the Elysium prototype, is a good fit. Deciding whether an invoice is paid is not. That's a rule, and rules don't guess.

Which industries do you work with? Service businesses mostly. See the industries page for the ones we've built for.

Talk to an n8n agency that will tell you straight

If leads, deals or hours are slipping somewhere in your business, book the free 30-minute call. We'll show you where, and whether n8n is the right way to fix it.