AI & Business Automation
I'm exploring whether a simple AI assistant could genuinely help small businesses respond to enquiries and manage customers — and testing that interest before building anything.
The Context
A lot of the small businesses I talk to don't have time to respond quickly to enquiries, and automation often gets dismissed as too complex or too impersonal for a small operation. I wanted to find out whether that's actually true, or just an assumption.
The Approach
Rather than building something speculative, I added a simple, optional question to the Free Website Initiative application asking whether a business would be interested in an AI assistant that helps with enquiries and customer management. It's a small, low-cost way to learn what people actually want before deciding whether this is worth building properly.
The Outcome
Still early. I'm paying attention to the interest coming through applications and conversations before deciding what, if anything, to build.
Next Steps
Keep listening to what businesses actually need rather than assuming, and only build if the interest and the problem both hold up.