"We don't have the budget to automate" is one of the most expensive sentences a company can say in 2026. Because the cost of not automating — the wasted time, the errors, the staff turnover — is real, concrete and cumulative. This article puts it in numbers by sector so you can make an informed decision.

Property management

A 3-manager firm handling 60 communities receives approximately 90 daily owner queries. 80% are repetitive questions. Without automation, each manager spends 5 hours weekly answering them. At €25/hour: €6,500/year per manager, €19,500 for the firm.

IgeraFincas Starter cost: €1,188/year. Year 1 ROI: 16x.

Human Resources

For a company with 100 employees and 6 monthly new hires, the cost of not automating HR queries is approximately €11,700/year in lost time. Add the longer onboarding ramp-up and turnover risk (20% of employees who resign do so in their first 45 days), and the real cost is 3-5x higher.

IgeraHR cost: €2,388/year. Year 1 ROI: 15x.

Industry and manufacturing

A 45-minute line stoppage due to a fault that takes time to diagnose costs €2,100 in lost production. Multiplied by 12 preventable annual breakdowns: €25,200/year on a single line.

IgeraIndustria responds in under 3 seconds with the exact procedure from the manufacturer's manual. Cost: €2,388/year. Year 1 ROI: 10x.

Healthcare (clinics)

A clinic with 40 daily calls, 35% for appointments, manages 14 appointment calls daily at €18 per call. Automating 70% of those: €9.8 × 250 working days = €34,300/year per clinic.

IgeraVoice cost: €1,188/year. Year 1 ROI: 28x.

Conclusion

Not automating is not free. It has a specific, calculable, cumulative cost. For most mid-size companies in the sectors analyzed, that cost exceeds €20,000–€40,000 per year in lost time, errors and uncaptured opportunities.

The question is not whether you can afford to automate. It is whether you can afford not to.