“How do I actually use AI in my business?”
You've tried ChatGPT a few times. It's handy. But nobody has shown you where it fits in your actual day. Here's how I'd start, in plain English, without the hype.
Same replies. Your voice. Half an hour back.
You might be seeing
If this sounds like you, you're in good company. Most owners are right here.
- You've tried ChatGPT, but only for the odd email or post
- Reviews sit for weeks without a reply
- The same five questions come in every night after you close
- Quotes eat an evening you don't have
- Every vendor says their tool has AI now, and you can't tell what's real
What's actually going on
It never got a real job
Most people try AI on a random question. It's fun, then it's forgotten. Nobody hands it the work that repeats every week.
It doesn't know you
AI writes generic stuff when it knows nothing about your business. Give it your prices, your hours and your voice, and it gets a lot better.
Too many tools, no plan
Everything has an AI button now. Without picking the job first, it's just more logins.
You’re not behind
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce found that 57 percent of small businesses in Alabama already use AI in some way. Most of that is ad hoc. Somebody asks ChatGPT to help with a post, and that’s about it.
That’s fine. It means the hard part, actually trying it, is done. What’s missing is a real job that repeats.
Start boring
The best first jobs for AI are the ones nobody wants:
- Review replies. A draft for every review, ready for you to read and send.
- After-hours questions. Hours, prices and “do you do this?” answered at 10pm.
- Quotes. A first draft from your notes and your price list.
Pick one or two. Get them working. Then decide if you want more.
We use AI to draft our own support replies. People get answers faster, and we still write to them ourselves.
How I fix it
No big rollout. We pick one or two boring, repeated jobs, set AI up to do them properly, and you stay in charge of what goes out.
- Find the repeat workWe list what eats your week. Usually it's replies, questions and quotes.
- Pick one or twoThe jobs where a good first draft saves the most time.
- Set it up with your detailsYour prices, hours, tone and the answers you already give. Then we test it on real examples.
- Show you how to check itYou approve what goes out. I show you how to adjust it when things change.