Why AI Doesn't Need to Be Complicated for Your Business
You don't need to understand neural networks. You need your quotes to go out faster. Here's the difference.
Why AI Doesn't Need to Be Complicated for Your Business
Every week I talk to business owners who think AI means spending $50,000 on a custom platform, hiring a data scientist, and completely changing how they work. It doesn't. Here's what AI actually looks like for most small businesses.
The AI You Actually Need
Forget ChatGPT writing your social media posts. That's the toy version. The AI that actually moves the needle for small businesses is invisible.
It's the system that:
- Reads an incoming email and automatically creates a task in your project management tool
- Generates a personalised follow-up email based on the specific service a lead enquired about
- Extracts data from a PDF invoice and enters it into your accounting software
- Summarises a 45-minute client call into actionable dot points
None of this requires your team to learn anything new. They keep using the same tools. Things just get done faster.
The Three Levels of AI for Business
Level 1: Simple Automation (No AI needed)
Most "AI projects" don't actually need AI. They need basic automation : if this happens, then do that.
- New form submission → send confirmation email
- Invoice overdue → send reminder
- New client signed → create project folder
Cost: $500-$1,500 | Timeline: 1-2 weeks
Level 2: AI-Assisted (Where the magic happens)
This is where you add intelligence to your automations. The system doesn't just move data : it understands it.
- AI reads incoming enquiries and categorises them by service type and urgency
- AI drafts personalised responses based on the enquiry content
- AI summarises meeting notes and extracts action items
Cost: $1,500-$5,000 | Timeline: 2-4 weeks
Level 3: Custom AI Solutions (For specific problems)
When you have a specific, repeatable problem that off-the-shelf tools can't solve.
- Custom chatbot trained on your specific product/service documentation
- AI-powered pricing engine based on your historical data
- Predictive tools for demand forecasting or resource planning
Cost: $5,000+ | Timeline: 4-8 weeks
How to Know If You Need AI
Ask yourself these questions:
- Is someone on your team doing the same task more than 5 times a week? → Automate it
- Does the task require reading, summarising, or categorising information? → Add AI
- Does it require judgment based on patterns in your business data? → Custom AI
- Is it a one-off creative task? → Probably not worth automating
The Bottom Line
AI for small business isn't about being cutting-edge. It's about being practical. The best AI implementation is the one your team never thinks about : they just notice that things work better.
If you're curious about what's possible for your business, book a free discovery call. I'll give you an honest answer : even if that answer is "you don't need AI right now."
"The goal isn't to be an AI company. The goal is to be a company that uses AI to do what it already does : just better and faster." - Jay