Time for a reality check.
AI can’t call on years of industry experience to fix a nuanced problem. It can’t demonstrate empathy over shared frustrations or build strong human connections. It won’t even laugh at your bad jokes unless you tell it to.
However, for small business leaders, the choice often isn’t between a human and AI, it’s between doing everything yourself, or not doing it at all – this is where AI can really help.
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Owain Williams
I’ve launched 4 successful businesses in the last 10 years, all whilst working a full time job. During this time I have been always been looking for smart ways to save time and money whilst getting more done. AI has totally changed how I run my current side hustles, here are some of the tools I swear by.
AI automation
You wouldn’t want to hire someone for $50k, only to have to explain over and over again how to do the same task.
So why would you want to do that with AI?
Automation is often overlooked by those looking to leverage AI. But continuously prompting your AI to do the same tasks chips away at your time.
Platforms like Google Gemini offer built-in automation tools that allow you to create one-off prompts that you can use again and again. For example, you may create a prompt that details your brand voice and preferred blog format, then you can feed a topic in whenever you want and let the AI create a blog post for you.
OpenClaw takes this one step further, allowing you to execute real-world tasks such as file management, browsing the internet, and sending emails. Where AI could previously only answer questions, with OpenClaw, it can execute commands. Although OpenClaw is free to use, you will need to host it, either on your own machine or through a managed hosting service like Hostinger.
A Stream Deck lets you connect automations to physical buttons that sit on your desk, helping you streamline common processes. For example, you may set up one button that automatically collects sales data from the last 30 days, populates it as a PDF, and emails it to you.
