Everyone is talking about AI. Your inbox is full of it - partially my fault I know! And if you're like most business owners, you've nodded along, maybe even tried a few things — and then gone right back to running your business the exact same way you always have.
That's not because you're behind. It's because most of what you're reading skips the most important step: where to actually begin.
Here's the answer, and it's simpler than you think.
Find the Tasks That Eat Your Time and Don't Require Your Brain
Before you buy anything, sign up for anything, or build anything — spend 15 minutes thinking about your week. What do you do over and over again that follows the same pattern every time?
- Answering the same questions from customers in slightly different words
- Writing follow-up emails after meetings
- Putting together weekly reports from data you already have
- Scheduling and rescheduling appointments
- Creating proposals that follow the same structure every time
- Summarizing long documents or email threads
These are your starting points. Not because AI is only good for repetitive work, but because these tasks are where the friction is lowest and the time savings are most immediate.
A McKinsey study found that 60–70% of work activities across industries could be automated using AI and existing technology. Most of it is exactly this kind of work: structured, repetitive, rule-based.
Now Open an AI Chat Tool and Ask It Directly
This is the part most people skip. They assume they need a consultant, a new software platform, or a six-month implementation project. You don't.
Open Claude, ChatGPT, or any AI chat tool. Describe your task in plain language — the way you'd explain it to a new employee on their first day — and just ask: "How can you help me with this?"
For example:
- "I answer the same 10 questions from customers almost every week. Can you help me write a set of ready-to-send responses I can customize quickly?"
- "Every Monday I put together a sales summary for my team. Here's the format I use. Can you help me build a template that makes this faster?"
- "I spend about an hour a day writing follow-up emails after client calls. Here's what they typically say. Can you draft a few versions I can work from?"
You'll be surprised how quickly something useful comes back — and how easy it is to refine with a few more messages back and forth.
The Mindset Shift That Makes It Click
Most people treat AI like a search engine: type in a question, get an answer, close the tab. That's not where it works best.
Think of it more like a capable team member who's ready to help right now. You give it context, it gives you a draft. You push back or ask for changes, it adjusts. The more you treat it like a real working conversation, the more useful it gets.
You don't need to understand how the technology works. You just need to know what problem you're trying to solve.
Start With One Task. Just One.
Pick the most repetitive, time-draining thing on your plate this week. Describe it in plain language to an AI chat tool. See what it gives you.
That's the whole first step.
The businesses winning with AI right now aren't the ones with the biggest tech budgets. They're the ones who started somewhere small, saw it work, and kept going.
I am here to help you on your journey to get back your time and grow your revenue by putting technology to work for you, reach out!