AI for a small business, built around how you already work.
Every build I take on starts at a pain point, and the biggest one I had was my own inbox. Between three kids' schedules, four product builds, client work, and a community group, things were landing in email, texts, and three calendars, and I was looking for a solution I could build out to streamline all of those inputs, tailored to my needs. So I mapped where the time actually went, cut what didn't need to happen at all, and built 17 AI agents for the rest, plus one board that shows me all of it. These are the questions I'd start with.
What should a small business use AI for first?
Start with a morning brief that reads your calendar and inbox, then pick one recurring task, the one you complained about most recently. Frequency beats size, so a ten-minute task you do every day is worth more than a two-hour one you do once a month.
Before either of those, give the AI standing context: a one-page brief on who you are, what the business does, who your customers are, how you like things written, and what it should never do without asking. You stop re-introducing yourself in every conversation, and it's the single biggest upgrade available to you.
Do I need an AI consultant, a class, or just a plan?
It depends on how much of the build you want to do yourself. You can start on the free plan and move up only if you outgrow it.
- Build it yourself, free. The 30-Day AI Starter Plan: four weeks, no code, about twenty minutes to set up, and five prompts you can paste.
- Learn it live. The Build Your AI Chief of Staff class: a 2-hour live build and a 45-minute fix-it office hour, $99 for a founding seat, 15 seats per cohort. The date isn't set yet, and the waitlist hears first.
- Have me build it. If you want one built around your business, that's the work I do, as an Applied AI engagement. I fix the process first, then build the AI on what's left.
Which AI assistant should a small business use?
Pick one of the big assistants and stick with it. Switching between three costs you more than any difference between them.
Every prompt in the 30-Day Plan works word for word in either of the two big assistants, and the plan's appendix maps each step.
What should AI never touch in a small business?
Three rules keep it safe. Nothing leaves without your eyes on it: AI drafts, you send. Some things never go in: customer personal details, financial credentials and anything a lawyer is involved in. And trust is earned per task, not granted to the system.
Let a workflow prove itself five times before you stop checking every line, and keep checking now and then, forever. My own system runs on the same rules. It's 17 agents, and nothing goes out in my name without my review. Here are the guardrails in more detail, and what an AI chief of staff does for an owner.
Can AI replace the software a small business pays for?
Sometimes, yes. So many of the apps we pay for every month can now be built in a morning, tailored to exactly how we work, and they're ours.
I did it with my own booking app. At 6:51 one morning I asked for a "calendy type app" for Origin, typo and all, and by 8:41 it was live on my website and connected to my calendar. What I love most is that it's mine. The whole story is in Built in a Morning.
How much does AI cost a small business?
You can start for nothing. The 30-Day Plan is free, and a free account on an AI assistant is enough for week one. Claude's free plan includes connectors to your email and calendar too; the Pro plan, about $20 a month, adds more usage and scheduled tasks.
Most people who finish the plan find 3 to 5 hours a week. The class is a $99 founding seat. A consulting engagement starts with a free 30-minute call and then a diagnostic from $3,500, and here's how the pricing works.
How do we start?
Tell me what you're working on through the contact form or at hello@shannonowens.com. I read every message myself and reply personally.
In Missouri? Here's what AI consulting looks like here.
If you're curious what your version would look like, tell me what you're working on.