How to Use AI in Your Small Business (Without Being Technical)
How to Use AI in Your Small Business (Without Being Technical)
Almost every week someone asks me: "Do I really need this artificial intelligence?" Usually the question comes from a craftsperson, a shop owner, a professional with five employees and a thousand things to do.
The honest answer: it depends on how you use it. AI doesn't solve organizational problems, doesn't replace people who know how to do their job well, and doesn't transform a poorly managed company into an efficient machine. But for some specific tasks, it can save you hours every week.
Respond to Clients Faster
The most immediate use case. You have client emails asking the same questions — prices, availability, delivery times, how a service works. Answering takes time, even when the answer is almost always the same.
With a tool like ChatGPT or Claude you can draft a response in seconds. You don't send it as-is: you read it, correct it, personalize it. But you already have 80% of the work done.
Some go further: they integrate a chatbot on their website that automatically answers frequently asked questions after hours. I talk about it in another article, but the basic idea is the same — using AI to manage communication volume without increasing staff.
Create Content Without Spending Hours at Your Desk
Social media posts, website copy, monthly newsletter, product descriptions. If you do it all yourself, these tasks eat time you could dedicate to real work.
AI generates decent drafts in minutes. Not perfect, but decent. An Instagram post about your new offer, a product description for your website, an email for regular customers. You provide basic information, AI builds a structure, you modify it.
Warning: AI-generated text is recognizable if you publish it untouched. It always needs review, personal tone added, details specific to your industry corrected. AI doesn't know your story, doesn't know what your workshop looks like, doesn't know your customers. You add those things.
Automate Quotes and Standard Responses
If you create custom quotes, you know how long it takes. Collecting customer information, calculating, writing the document, sending it.
AI can help in two ways. First: generate the quote structure from information you enter, with already formatted and professional text. Second: with more advanced tools like Make or Zapier connected to an AI model, you can automate parts of the workflow — for example, when a request comes in via form, the system generates a draft quote that you review and send.
It's not science fiction, and you don't need to be a programmer. There are services that manage these automations without writing code.
What AI Doesn't Do
This is important to be clear about.
AI doesn't manage relationships with difficult clients. It doesn't make strategic decisions. It doesn't know if a supplier is reliable. It doesn't know the specific rules of your industry.
And most importantly: it doesn't guarantee accuracy. AI models make mistakes, invent data, cite laws that don't exist. On any text touching technical, legal, or numerical topics, you must verify.
Using it without checking the output is worse than not using it.
How to Start: Just One Tool
The mistake I see often is trying ten tools all at once and using none of them well. Better to choose a specific problem that costs you time every week and find just one tool that solves it.
For most small business owners, the best starting point is ChatGPT (free version or Plus at €20 per month). You have an assistant that answers any question, generates text, summarizes documents, helps structure emails and proposals.
Use only that for a month. See where it saves you time. Then, if you want, add something else.
If you want to understand how to integrate AI tools into your website or processes, write to me: I can show you what makes sense for your specific situation.
