Don't Make These AI Mistakes
Pt 1 / 2: Practical AI for Non-Technical Small Biz Owners
What’s one task in your business that takes up way too much of your time?
With where AI is today, that’s an exciting question we all need to be asking ourselves.
So if you think AI could make a big impact in your business, but you’re not exactly sure how…
Then this 2-part series is for you.
In part 1 (today), I have some fascinating data, insightful stories, and battle-tested advice on the biggest AI mistakes you need to avoid - including how one small business owner I know lost 100k with 1 bad move.
Tomorrow, in part 2, I’ll share the only 3 AI components small business owners like you need to capture 80% of the benefits available today…
(Enough to unlock hours of free time each week per person. With just 1 low-cost software tool and NO tech skills, you can get better results than big corps spending millions.)
Let’s dive in.
The first big mistake...
My longtime mentor and colleague Tom knows AI better than most.
He’s been using it for something like 20 years (long before any of us knew it was a thing)…
But he’s at a stage in his career where he only wants to work on the few things that really light him up.
So for him, keeping up with the latest AI news, tools, and best practices is just not on his list.
If you’ve tried to keep up with everything in AI yourself, you can probably see why.
Every day there are countless new reports, tools, and emerging “best practices” on what works and what doesn’t.
It’s overwhelming. And also incredibly exciting.
Tom’s “opted out” of getting into the deep weeds of implementing AI, because he doesn’t want to and doesn’t have to.
However, if you’re like me...
If you’re active in business, looking to scale, or wanting to remove yourself from day-to-day operations and focus more on your zone of genius, increase profits, and potentially exit, then you don’t have a choice.
AI is here. Even more mind-blowing technology is coming. And further disruption is on it’s ways.
The first mistake is to stick your head in the sand and ignore it.
Now, if you feel like you’re behind the curve…
If you have fear around what’s coming, how it will disrupt your business, and how to handle this new world we’re all being presented with at breakneck speed…
The first thing I want to let you know is that it’s ok.
In fact, I feel it too.
And I know from conversations I’ve had that even people on the cutting edge of AI feel it as well.
There is no doubt in my mind that AI is the single most important technology revolution of my lifetime…
So ever since ChatGPT was released that fateful day in November, 2022, I have been “all in.”
In the 700 traditional work days since then, I’ve logged somewhere in the neighborhood of ~2,000 - 3,000 hours building, researching, learning, experimenting, and geeking out on AI.
In that time, I’ve been laser focused on one thing:
Finding the most impactful, LOW-TECH, practical applications that drive REAL results, because...
We’re only living in the GREATEST technological revolution of our time!
Because of that, it’s critical to have a mindset of experimentation amidst a great technological revolution and mass disruption of our world as we know it.
When AI works well, it feels like magic.
There’s an almost childlike “wow” feeling that makes work fun again.
And that’s a beautiful thing, because the outcome of this is that we all get to make AI handle more of our “busywork”…
So that we have more time for our life’s work.
And it got me relating in a new way to that famous Thomas Edison quote as he strove to create the ground-breaking technology of his time, a whopping 146 years ago: the lightbulb.
“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
Now, I’m nowhere close to Edison in attempts, but I’m getting up there.
And this really helped me see something really clear about that fear we all have floating around with AI right now…
If your business is NOT experimenting with AI…
If you’re not building a ‘business context base” that your AI can pull from for high-quality, duplicatable results… (I’ll explain this in tomorrow’s article)
If you’re not laying the groundwork now to take advantage of the incredible capabilities today, and the mind-blowing capabilities coming tomorrow…
Then that fear is your signal to take action.
Because researchers have found that the ability of AI agents to complete complex, multi-step tasks is doubling roughly every seven months.
Far faster than Moore’s law (the age-old law stating that compute power doubles every 2 years).
It doesn’t just feel like things are moving faster. They are.
So while I want to assure you that many of us are in the same boat with this anxiety and excitement about where things are going…
The 2nd mistake is not heeding that feeling, and not taking action today.
You don’t have to go “all in” like me. But you do have to gain a basic understanding of what’s happening, what’s available, what’s coming, and how you can use it to gain leverage in your business.
When you do, not only will you handle that fear, but if you do it the right way… you may be surprised by how much you can remove yourself from your business and grow profits at the same time.
Mistake #3: Don’t lose 100k on 1 big AI bet
There’s a successful entrepreneur I’ve known for a long time.
Like many others, he’s made his money by making bold decisions and taking calculated risks.
And in the early days after ChatGPT’s release, a lot of people were eager to apply it, seeking an edge in their business.
Unfortunately, as often happens in new, unregulated industries, others saw this, and chose to exploit it.
One such company offered an AI driven call service for the low, low price of 100k. He bought.
Today, a simple search will reveal similar (but better) services for around $30 per month, scaling up with usage.
Not only was their product terrible (remember how bad ChatGPT was in the early days?)
They essentially scammed countless business owners out of 6-figures.
And as of last month, the FTC is suing that very company, which best I can tell is out of business.
This is a powerful lesson about 1 of the few big risks as a business owner in a rapidly evolving environment.
Today, you probably won’t find a software company charging those kinds of fees - there’s too much competition. The space has evolved.
But you will find plenty of other grifters.
People who just learned “AI” in the past 2 weeks and charge exorbitant fees for basic services.
The lesson?
Do your due diligence. Take your time. Be careful.
Look into the people giving you quotes, the software you’re being pitched, and don’t let those who would prey on people who don’t fully understand what they’re buying.
When you buy a car, you can have a certain level of trust that you’re going to get what you expect and it will do what they say it’ll do.
With investing, there are a few common red flags: if it’s offshore, overly complicated, sounds too good to be true, and has high pressure sales tactics… you’re probably going to get burned.
And it’s similar here.
So be wary of complicated solutions with big price tags and promises.
Like I said, advanced applications of technology are very much experimental right now.
(However, there are use cases for getting predictable, quality results - which I’ll talk about tomorrow).
Today, a good rule of thumb is the simpler, the better.
That’s why it’s possible for smart small biz owners to get better results than big corporations spending millions on complicated solutions that break, don’t work as they should, or their team won’t use.
Mistake #4: Ego and lazy thinking are your enemy
A new Harvard Business Review report recently dropped on how companies are being torn apart by AI “workslop.”
Kate Niederhoffer writes:
“Employees are using AI tools to create low-effort, passable looking work that ends up creating more work for their coworkers.”
“(AI Workslop) masquerades as good work, but lacks the substance to meaningfully advance a given task.
If you’ve ever used ChatGPT, you know what they mean.
And it’s honestly been a little frightening to see in action...
Brilliant, successful business owners - who should know better - are churning out absolute GARBAGE ... thinking it’s good.
Why?
Ego. And laziness.
2 weeks ago, a friend sent me a book he was excited about, looking for feedback.
He’d been staying up late, spending hours and hours every day working on it... and he’s a pretty good marketer and successful entrepreneur, so I was excited to get the first look.
When I opened the doc... it was so abstract and confusing that it’s honestly hard to express how difficult it was to read.
We joked about it together so it’s ok that I share this with you... it was not good.
Again, this guy is very smart. Very successful.
But all of us are susceptible to influence.
And guess what? Since AI has a similar neural network to how the human brain works, it aims to please.
So if you don’t expressly tell it otherwise, ChatGPT will tell you what you want to hear.
And if you’re not careful to check your ego - which all of us have - as well as our tendency for “cognitive offloading”
(our desire to seek the easiest path, for example - tools like Google Maps navigate for us so we don’t have to think)
... Then you might allow that magical feeling that comes with using ChatGPT to convince you that an idea or an output is good, when it’s actually terrible.
Tomorrow’s email is about solutions, but this is a BIG issue, so here’s a quick fix to wet your beak:
Go into your ChatGPT settings (or whatever you use), and put this in your custom instructions / preferences:
Be Friendly + Straight‑shooting + Strategic + Actionable. You help me cut through complexity: include a one‑sentence “TL;DR” when you’re explaining something complex or with multiple steps or points. Focus on substance over praise. Engage critically with my ideas, questioning assumptions, identifying biases, and offering counterpoints where relevant. Don’t shy away from disagreement when it’s warranted, and ensure that any agreement is grounded in reason and evidence.
This 1-minute fix will go a long way to protecting you from yourself.
Now, let’s wrap things up with a short story...
Here’s how I know next year will be the year those with AI fundamentals get 10x - 100x the results of those who aren’t…
Recently, I attended an AI workshop, where the last session of the day was held by 4 developers.
2 of these “coders” work at one of the big 3 AI companies.
1 was the COO of the company putting on the conference.
And 1 was the host of a top AI podcast.
They were talking shop about what’s going on behind-the-scenes, what they’re working on, where AI is going, and what’s working now…
And here’s the moment I knew that our world has in fact changed forever.
That we must all adapt…
One of the panelists asked another how many AI agents they’ve run at the same time.
(if you’re not familiar with the term, AI Agents run in the background for minutes, or sometimes even hours, thinking through steps, planning, evaluating, and executing steps for you)
As a tech-savvy generalist entrepreneur, I was pretty proud of myself for using 1 at a time.
Seemed like a normal thing to do. Pretty smart.
Except one of these coderr runs… wait for it… 8 AI agents at a time!
And he gets them all working on something right before he takes his lunch break.
You know, cause if your AI Agents aren’t hustling 24/7 for you then you’re gonna fall behind. Crazy!
Then another replied saying that his new workflow is having his 4 agents go do something.
—> Then they report back with results.
—> Then he has another agent take that report and improve it.
And so on.
Truly… we are becoming “conductors of AI” instead of “workers with AI.”
They’re asking for what they want to happen, evaluating the results, and choosing what is “good”.
And that my friend, is the future.
It’s how developers at the cutting edge of AI are working right now, and according to them, it’s how many other, less tech-savvy people will be working by Q1 or Q2 next year.
We’re living in a new, exciting world with abundant intelligence…
One where - when you take the time to build the right foundation…
Allows you take advantage of this incredible technology.
To get more of your busywork off your plate.
To free up more of your time for your life’s work.
And ultimately, to grow your business.
That’s it for today, my friend.
Tomorrow, we’re going to dive into the only 3 components you need to capture 80% of AI’s upside... with just 1 tool.
Today was about the mistakes, the fears, and an important discussion about this incredible milestone we’re all living through in human history.
Next, it’s go-time - we’re going to get into a real, simple, effective way to get AI working for you today.
(while setting you up for success tomorrow.)
Because when you get a few key things in place, you’ll find that any fear around new AI developments might just turn to excitement… as it will only create more abundance for you in your business and your life.
And ultimately, that abundance is the promise of the future that AI brings.
You ready?
See you tomorrow. Thanks for reading, and if you enjoyed this email I’d love to hear from you.
Ryan Niessen