A.I. is everywhere right now—and solo and small businesses want in. You’ve probably noticed the flood of tools, apps, and “must-try” platforms that promise to revolutionise your marketing, content, customer service, and more. While some of these tools can genuinely be useful, here’s a gentle reminder, be cautious when people tell you to try the next big AI app—or worse, when they’re selling one they built themselves. The AI space has become a bit of a gold rush, with people jumping in to make quick money before the wider audience realises they could do much of the same thing themselves with a little know-how.
You’ll often see sweeping claims like “It knows what beauty businesses need because I built it into the code of the app.” Sounds impressive, but let’s be real—unless someone has built a completely custom language model (which takes huge resources, expense and time), they’re likely using an existing AI like ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini, OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta Llama, etc and layering on a few clever prompts, workflows, or templates and wrapped it in a custom application. That can be helpful, sure—but it doesn’t mean the tool magically understands your business or has exclusive strategic insight.
Any A.I. can only “know” a brand based on what the user has input or selected.
There’s no true deep knowledge like a human would have — just patterned memory based on inputs and training via structured fields (e.g., brand tone, values, offers, etc.).
We’ve actually done this ourselves.
Early on we created our own AI tool and interface specifically for solo and small business owners. It was extremely simple to use, and the output was actually good. We even trialled it for free on our website for a while. However, a tool is only ever as good as how it’s structured. While we built in pre-prompt questions to help the AI get to know each user’s business and tailor responses more meaningfully, there are nuances in everything. Every AI tool carries inbuilt assumptions—shaped who created it, the goals they had in mind, and the data it draws from. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it does mean you’re never starting from a blank slate. The tool will always have a perspective—even if it’s subtle.
We also know some of our clients have used AI tools that ask for financial or customer data—and entered it without hesitation. If you’re inputting sensitive information into any AI tool, you should be aware that data could be stored or used to train the model, depending on the platform’s privacy policy. Always check the fine print. Just because something is free or convenient doesn’t mean it’s safe. Please see here (Guidance on privacy and the use of commercially available AI products)
Why we pulled the app.
I could have developed this tool even further and sold it. I decided it would be better to help the end user learn how to prompt AI themselves. Maybe I’m a control freak—but I genuinely believe it’s more powerful to help people understand and navigate AI directly. Many small business owners still think A.I is “too technical,” and rush off to buy an app. Trust me A.I. is accessible. Anyone (yes even you!) can learn to prompt well—heck A.I. can even help you improve your prompts. You don’t need a paid tool to get great results. (That said there are limitations in the free versions but honestly most of our clients don’t reach those limits so start with free versions and upgrade later if you need to). You just need clarity, confidence, and a little experimentation.
The truth is anything AI gives you (PAID OR FREE) is essentially a remix of what’s already out there on the web. It might package it nicely or make it quicker to access, but it’s not generating brand-new wisdom. The real value lies in what you do with the information—not just what you get from the tool.
If you insist on using a tool at least check them out. Also remember A.I. still gets things wrong no matter which A.I. or A.I. tool you use ( funny recent example here.)
AI Tool Safety Checklist: How to Use AI Without Compromising Your Business
- Check the Privacy Policy
Before using any tool, find out whether your data is stored, shared, or used to train their models. - Avoid Entering Confidential Info
Don’t input financials, customer names, personal details, or anything sensitive unless you’re 100% sure it’s secure.(spoiler it isn’t) - Understand What It’s Built On
Which LLM is it powered or is it a custom tool? Knowing this helps you set realistic expectations. - Look for Pre-Prompting Transparency
Tools that ask questions before generating content are usually trying to personalise—but make sure you know what’s being asked and why. - Test with Low-Stakes Tasks First
Use the tool for general content or brainstorming before relying on it for client communications or decision-making. - Don’t Trust “It Knows Your Business” Claims
AI doesn’t know you—it knows patterns. The better the prompts and context you give it, the better it performs. - Remember: It’s a Tool, Not a Brain
AI can assist and accelerate, but it can’t replace your judgment, strategy, or deep understanding of your business.
How to Start Using AI (The Smart Way)
You don’t need to be a tech expert to start using AI effectively in your business. And you definitely don’t need another subscription or shiny tool. Here’s what we recommend instead:
- Start writing your prompt in a plain document. This gives you time to think, refine, and clarify what you’re really asking for.
- Re-read it and improve it. Does it clearly explain what you want? Is there missing context the A.I. would need?
- Add this line to the end of your prompt:
“Ask me any questions you need to provide the most accurate and helpful response.” This ensures less room for misinterpretation of your prompt. - Paste the same prompt into 3–5 different AI tools. Try ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity, etc.
- Compare the outputs. Some will be surface-level, some might go deeper or offer more creativity. You’ll start to see which tool suits your style or business type best.
- Pay attention to how the tool responds to your improvements. Over time, your prompts will get sharper—and your results will get stronger.
- Keep a File. Keep in a document or spreadsheet a list of great prompts or phrases that worked well for you previously so you can reuse or adapt them later.
Small business owners don’t need more information. They need clarity. They need guidance on how to apply that information to their unique business, audience, and goals. That’s where the magic happens—not in the tool, but in the thinking.
We created The No-BS guide to A.I. for solo and small business owners a while ago—and it’s still packed with value and comes with a consult! An updated version is likely coming towards the end of this year, but the current edition is ready to help you get started. Edited- this has been updated 30th April 2025 to include exploring Chat GPT’s and creating your own.
As with all our downloads (even our freebies), you’ll receive an updated version automatically via email whenever we make changes.
