# Neur vs hiring a business consultant

> What a business consultant does for a new entrepreneur, what it costs, what Neur automates and what it does not — so you can decide which you need.

Canonical: https://www.neur.co/docs/neur-vs-business-consultant
Last updated: 2026-09-09

People search for a business consultant when they want someone to tell them whether an idea is worth pursuing and where to start. Part of that job is research; part is judgement and hand-holding. Neur automates the research part.

## What a consultant does

- Interviews you about goals, budget and experience.
- Researches the market: demographics, industry trends, competitors.
- Estimates costs and revenue.
- Writes it up and walks you through it.
- Stays available for questions, introductions and the next decision.

## What Neur does

- Asks the same interview questions in a six-step form.
- Pulls the same public data — Census, BLS, competitor listings — for your city and industry automatically.
- Scores the opportunity on five pillars and estimates startup and operating costs by industry and operating model.
- Delivers a dashboard and a PDF built to be handed to a lender.
- Costs $59.99 per report and takes minutes.

## What Neur does not do

- It does not know your landlord, your lender or your local council.
- It does not negotiate, introduce or coach.
- It does not write your full business plan; it provides the evidence section.
- It does not cover markets outside the United States.

## How to use both

Many people run a Neur report first, then bring it to a consultant, an SBA-backed Small Business Development Center (free) or a lender. The report answers the "is this viable, and where?" question so the paid conversation can start at "how do we do it?".

## The honest summary

If the question is *whether* and *where*, Neur is the cheaper and faster route to the same data. If the question is *how*, and you want a person in your corner, hire one, and hand them the report.