Answer
35 questions / answer in the first line
Answers
The questions people actually ask us
One page per question. The answer is the first line, not buried under twelve paragraphs of throat-clearing. If your question is not here, ask us and we will write it.
Getting started
8 answers
- What's the first thing I should automate in my business?Automate your lead follow-up first: the reply that goes out when someone enquires. It has a clear trigger, ...
- How long does it take to get AI up and running in a small business?Days to weeks, not months. A single automated workflow, like lead follow-up or invoice chasing, can be live...
- Where do I even start with AI in my business?Start with one problem, not the technology. Pick the most repetitive task you did last week that follows a ...
- Do I need to sort out my spreadsheets and data before I can use AI?No. AI does not need your whole business tidy, only the data that feeds the one process you are automating....
- Is my business too small for AI to be worth it?No. The AI tools that matter to a one to five person firm cost £20 to £50 a month and need no IT department...
- What is an AI agent, in plain English?An AI agent is software that finishes a job, not just answers a question. Give it a goal, like "reply to th...
- Which AI should I use, ChatGPT, Copilot or Gemini?Pick by where your business already lives. In Microsoft 365 all day, try Copilot. On Google Workspace, Gemi...
- How do I get better answers out of ChatGPT?Brief it like a new employee, give it the context, the goal, an example of what good looks like and the for...
What it costs
5 answers
- Are the free AI tools good enough, or do I need to pay for something?Free AI tools are genuinely good enough for drafting, research and thinking work, so start there. You need ...
- Will AI actually save my business money, or is it just another subscription?Yes, if you point it at a job you can measure in hours: quoting, follow-up, invoice chasing, reporting. Buy...
- How much does it cost to get AI set up in my business?For most UK small businesses: £15 to £25 per person per month for AI assistant subscriptions, a small month...
- How do I work out if AI is paying for itself?Pick the number it is supposed to move before you switch it on: hours on a task, speed to first reply, invo...
- Is it cheaper to use AI than to hire another member of staff?Usually yes, by a wide margin: even a minimum-wage full-time hire costs over £28,000 a year once employer N...
Who to hire
4 answers
- Do I need a developer to automate my business?No, not for most of it. Simple automations like lead follow-up, booking reminders and moving data between t...
- How do I avoid getting ripped off by an AI company?Make them pass four tests before you pay a penny: name a real system they built and the client who runs on ...
- Should I hire someone in-house for AI or use an outside company?For most firms under about 50 staff, use an outside specialist. A full-time AI hire costs £80k+ a year befo...
- Can I set this up myself with ChatGPT and Zapier, or should I pay someone?Yes, build it yourself if it is one simple flow between two or three tools: Zapier and ChatGPT will handle ...
Using it day to day
10 answers
- Can AI do my bookkeeping and chase my invoices?It can do the repetitive parts well: reading receipts, categorising transactions, matching payments, drafti...
- Can I train ChatGPT on my own business documents?Yes, and you do not need to "train" anything in the technical sense. Upload your documents to a Custom GPT ...
- Will AI work with the software I already use, like Xero and Outlook?Yes. Mainstream UK business tools like Xero, QuickBooks, Outlook, Gmail and most CRMs have published connec...
- What can go wrong with AI automation, and what happens when it breaks?Common failures: automating an already broken process, messy data producing wrong answers, chatbots inventi...
- Can AI answer my phones and take bookings when I can't get to them?Yes. AI phone agents now answer in a natural voice, handle routine questions and book appointments straight...
- Will AI replace my staff?For most small businesses, no. AI takes over the repetitive parts of jobs, drafting, data entry, chasing, a...
- Why does ChatGPT make things up, and how do I stop it?Because it predicts plausible words, it does not look facts up. When it lacks the answer it produces someth...
- Does Google penalise AI-written content?No. Google's published position is that it rewards quality however the content was produced, and penalises ...
- Can AI write my emails without sounding like a robot?Yes, if you feed it the right things: the real details of who you are writing to and a few examples of how ...
- What can AI actually do for a business like mine, day to day?Day to day, AI handles the repetitive admin around your real work: drafting quotes, chasing invoices, follo...
Staying safe and legal
8 answers
- Could AI leak my confidential business information to competitors?It can, but not the way most people picture. The risk is not a competitor asking ChatGPT for your prices an...
- Is all this AI stuff just hype for businesses like mine?A fair amount of it is hype, and your scepticism is earned: most small firms that adopt AI use it lightly a...
- Who's responsible if my AI tells a customer something wrong?You are. A chatbot on your website speaks for your business, the same as a member of staff. Air Canada test...
- Is it safe to put customer details into ChatGPT?Not on a free or Plus account. Those are personal products that can use what you type to train OpenAI's mod...
- Will my customers be able to tell they're talking to AI, and will they mind?Sometimes they will, and they won't mind if you're upfront about it. Customers are happy for AI to handle q...
- Does my small business need an AI policy?Yes, and one page is enough. Your staff are already using AI, with or without your blessing, and the real r...
- Do I have to tell customers I'm using AI?Sometimes by law, usually by sense. UK GDPR requires you to tell people when a decision with real consequen...
- Who owns the words and images AI creates for me?For everyday use, you are fine: ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini all assign you the rights to the output in their...
Got a question that is not here?
Ask it on a free 30-minute call. You get the answer either way; if it is useful to more people than you, it ends up on this page.
Book a call. 30 minutes, no pitch deck.