Are you AI integrated? If not, why?

Welcome to the FSBO Podcast. This is the Small Business Credit Minute, and I'm your business credit expert, S.E.

Day.

On weekly episodes, we will bring you the small business owner issues that matter most to your business financial wallet, because in order for you to compete in today's business financial world, you should know the rules of competition. Today we are tackling a question that every small business owner must face. Are you AI integrated? And if not, why? Artificial intelligence is transforming how businesses grow, operate, and compete. Stay tuned, and when we return, I will have a special guest who will be joining me to talk about AI integration and how it can transform your business. We'll be right back. In today's competitive world, your business deserves more than just hard work. It deserves the financial freedom to grow. Building business credit is the key to unlocking opportunities. With strong business credit, you can expand faster, invest smarter, and reduce your personal risk. Start building your business credit today because your dreams deserve the chance to grow, just like your business. Build your business credit. Secure your spot at the next Small Business Credit Survival Bootcamp. Welcome back. Today joining me in studio is Maia Tucker. Ms. Tucker is a legal analyst and an AI integration specialist who helps entrepreneurs use intelligent systems to scale smarter and faster. So let's get into it. Maia, welcome to the show.

Thank you for having me, Sandy. How are you today?

I am super, super fantastic. You know, that's my phrase. I'm super fantastic. How are you doing?

As you should be. I am, I am great. I am doing great. Thank you so much.

So let's dig into this whole AI thing. What is up with AI?

So people don't realize, but AI is no longer optional. If you're not integrating AI into your business, into your workflows, into your everyday life, You're going to be left behind. Now, in this moment, AI is shaping customer expectations. It's shaping their competitors' strategies and the speed of the marketplace.

Wow. So when we talk about AI integration, what exactly does that mean for the small business owner or just the everyday person? What does that mean for them?

Yeah. So, AI integration simply means using technology to automate tasks, right? So, using AI enhances decision-making and personalizes customer experiences. It could be as simple as automating an invoice, creating an email, advancing predictive analytics for sales forecasting. It could mean a whole lot, and a whole lot that can be made easier for you.

So basically, AI, pretty much OpenAI launched in 2022 or 2023, something like that.

Yes.

Um, so how has AI shifted from what we considered as a luxury to a necessity for the small business owner?

So it's definitely a necessity for a small business owner. I'll just say this, the cost of AI has dropped dramatically, and many tools are built directly into software businesses. Software businesses already use it, to be honest. AI, it really saves time. It reduces errors. It provides insights on humans that humans alone really could never calculate fast enough. AI is just— it's really quick. It can be used as a thought partner. I say that—

Yeah.

When I'm training people on how to use these tools, Use AI as a thought partner. Don't completely rely on AI to give you the answer that you need because it will likely hallucinate, and that's an AI term. Um, okay, we'll give you something that you are really not expecting, right? So it's all about prompting, to be honest. It's all about prompting and how you ask.

And we're going to talk, and we're going to talk more about that whole prompting because You know, we got— oh my God, I got a whole litany of things that I can talk about, about data centers and when people are just prompting what I call stupid videos, right?

Yes.

And how much energy costs that is using to do a 5-second video.

Absolutely.

But that's another topic. We'll— yeah, we'll get into that shortly. So you've already listed some of the things that AI— I— that, that AI can help a small business do.

Sure.

What are some real examples of small businesses using using AI today?

Yeah, so a lot of businesses are using AI. So for example, retail shops are using AI for inventory, um, fashion companies and the beauty industry is using AI for just several different reasons. Service businesses are using chatbots for customer support, automatic responses. Coaches and consultants are using AI to create content. Content creators are using AI to create content. And Yeah. To take it even further, even restaurants are using AI to, you know, put together their menus, come up with food ideas for their menus, and just really optimize staffing and predict times that's going to be more busier for their businesses. So, everybody is using AI.

And honestly, I admit, I was probably 6 months ago, Okay. A novice to AI. I didn't understand it. And, you know, and we're going to get into one of those things, one of these questions about what are some of the holdbacks. But I can tell you, I was not familiar with it. And when you talked about prompting, we're really going to dig into that because that sets the tone for training your AI.

Absolutely.

Right? So we're going to get into that. All right. So what are some of the biggest misconceptions about AI?

So I think that the biggest misconception is that AI is going to replace humans, but it will not replace humans. I mean, don't get me wrong, some jobs like customer service-related jobs, some companies might replace a few humans with AI. But it's really going to replace tasks, not people. I think another misconception is that you need to be this engineer, this computer science whiz. You have to have gone to school for many, many years to learn about computer science and things of that nature, but you don't.

Right.

Today's AI consists of a lot of plug and play, but you definitely don't need to have an AI degree. Degree of some sort or computer engineering.

Right, right. So let's talk cost. Business owners, you know, like you and myself, we're always, how much money is this costing? Can you—

sorry, Sandy.

I see her.

Yeah.

Hey, Kaya.

We're doing an interview right now.

Thank you for jumping in the middle.

That's because he— oh my God, Sandy, you're going to have to— can we do this part again? I'm sorry. Jesus Christ! Hi, he's right here. Jesus! But he wasn't. We're recording. Bye, Kaya.

All righty.

Yeah, yeah, no problem. Sorry, I told you not to come in. Go in my room and look in the mirror. Jesus Christ! Okay, we can talk about that later. We'll talk about that later. Jesus! It's okay.

We will.

Okay. Oh, Lord have mercy.

Okay. So what we'll do is we'll pause. I'll, I'll count down to 3, count down to 1.

Okay.

And then let's pause for 3 seconds. That way I'll know where the break is in here.

Okay.

And then we can pick this up. I'll cut that piece out.

Okay.

So I'll go into—

Ask that question again about the misconceptions.

Yes. And then— okay.

Okay.

So you come in on the misconceptions of the cause. Let's just do the misconceptions.

Yeah, let's start all over from from there.

Okay.

How's it going so far?

See, we expect we expect everything. This is why it's not live, so I can cut it and chop it.

Okay, good, good. Oh Lord!

Okay, so we're good. We're good.

Okay. I was like, I was like, who is that coming in the room? And I'm like, Jesus! Look, Sandy, Lord have mercy.

Okay. All right. So, okay, 3, 2, 1. So what are some of the biggest misconceptions about AI?

I think one of the biggest misconceptions about AI— not think, but I know one of the biggest misconceptions of AI is that it's going to replace humans. And the answer is, the true answer is, it is not. Now, don't get me wrong, there might be some roles such as like customer service roles, paralegals, legal assistants that can be replaced by humans or be as of an assistant to humans. But the matter is, the fact of the matter is, it's not going to replace humans. I think another misconception is that you need to know coding, you need to be some kind of computer engineer, have gone to school. with all this computer science experience, but you don't. And that's the cool thing about using these AI tools. A lot of them are plug and play. So it makes things a lot easier to understand AI.

Okay. Okay. Now, business owners like you and I, right? We're small business owners.

Yes.

And the first thing we want to know is, how much is this going to cost me, right?

Yeah.

To use AI, to learn it, to whatever. How much is it going to cost for me to be able to integrate AI into my business. What would you say to that?

Yeah, so, you know, it's not that expensive. I'll be honest, I've kind of played around with AI tools for the last 2 years, and I have noticed that, um, it's a very minimal cost, anywhere from $20 to $50. Um, if you're using automation platforms like Make or, um, Zapier, it, it doesn't cost too much. But you have to realize you have to invest into your business. So if you do come across a tool that's $50, that's not too much, right? I'd rather pay $50 than $500 for, I don't know, say $500 a month for a marketing assistant. You can use AI to create your marketing campaign.

Okay. Okay.

Yeah, it's that, it's really that simple. I think honestly, using AI tools can literally replace an entire team. I don't know if you've heard, but—

Well, that's perfect. That's perfect because we're rolling into that.

Yes.

How can AI increase efficiency or reduce costs for a company?

So I think here's the thing, Sandy, and I think people have to realize that you don't need to hire all these people. When you, when you are a new business owner, you're already doing things by yourself. You're acting as an accountant, you're acting as the content creator, the marketing person, and things of that nature.

You're the damn janitor. Okay.

Exactly. Exactly. But the thing is, People don't realize that there can be a one-person-run business that can literally create a million-dollar company. So that's why I say like—

And that's happening.

That is happening today. Yes, it is.

And we're not talking about people with PhDs. We're not talking about people who have been— who even have undergrad degrees.

Yeah.

You mentioned something earlier about content creation.

Yes.

It's all about how you set it up, how you prompt it to make it work for you. And I'm seeing that this stuff is doing amazing stuff. And I—

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah.

I use— I use AI. I pay that $20 a month subscription.

Yes.

But let me tell you, the way it works, I don't use it to replace me. I'm a very smart guy. Okay. Not bragging and all this stuff. Full disclosure, Maya and I are— we became friends back in '18. 2018?

2018? No, 2016.

Yeah, we were going this— 2016. We actually went to law school together. Uh, we both got our Master of Science in Law.

Yes.

And we're both legal analysts. And I wanted to bring someone on that I know and trusted that could talk about this. And we've been talking about AI, AI, AI.

Yes.

And I'm telling you, She's a guru. She's training me on stuff. She's— we're working on some stuff together. Just hang tight, people. Yeah, it's gonna come out and it's gonna be revolutionary. Oh yes, yes, yes, absolutely. She is an expert at what she's doing. Okay, enough off the soapbox. So back to, back to the questions.

Yes.

Um, what return on investment should a business expect? When using AI integration?

Um, a huge one. Um, it's very— so like I said, when you're investing the small amount into your business, you can literally— AI will make your business scalable. So if you're investing like this $20, $50, even $100 into a platform, an AI platform, right, you will see a return on your investment within, I would say, 30 to 90 days. So it was a very quick return on investment for sure.

And I tell you, uh, at that cost, you can't get a marketing firm. You can't, you can't get even a consultant on the phone for $20 a month.

Exactly.

Okay. Now, OpenAI, Google's Gemini, these people aren't paying me. I'm just telling you that I'm a believer in it for $20 a month. A month? And wait, wait, wait, wait, let's be real. Some of it is free. You can actually use OpenAI for free.

Yes.

The thing of it is, it's only gonna give you a finite amount of uses per day.

Absolutely.

And that's normally like 5. And you have to understand it. It'll ask a question, you'll put in a prompt, it'll give you what you want, then it'll ask you a question. If you answer all 5 of those sessions, you just used up Your daily limit.

Yes.

Right. But for $20 a month, you get almost unlimited exposure.

Absolutely. Can this tool—

and it's faster.

Yes.

You know, I sent you over a clip on John— Last Week Tonight with John Oliver.

Yes.

Back to what you were talking about replacing. You know, he says one thing like to lawyers that he had a guest on and the guest said, AI is not going to replace lawyers, but lawyers who use AI are going to replace lawyers who don't.

Absolutely. And that's very true.

And that is a very powerful statement.

Absolutely. And it's closer than you think. People think that, oh, we have about 3, 4, or 5 more years. No, if you're not on the bandwagon now, and if you're not, if you're not riding that wave now, You will be left behind. I can tell you that for sure.

I had a guest on, on a previous episode, and we were talking about search engine optimization, and he brought up the term generative AI. And I was like, dude, what are you talking about generative? We're still trying to understand what search engine optimization is. Exactly. Now you're talking about generative AI search engine optimization.

Right, right.

And I was like, that's a whole nother show that we don't even have to talk about that. That is way beyond the novice person.

Exactly.

Wow.

Okay.

So folks, you know that this— go ahead.

Really quickly, just so folks know, generative AI is AI tools that will create images and create emails and things of that nature for you. So it consists of things of that nature. So in case folks are wondering what is generative AI, that's what it is.

Got it. Okay. So now, you know, this is the Small Business Credit Minute and we talk about financial tools and business credit. Can AI help improve financial management or even business credit for small businesses?

Oh yeah, yeah, absolutely. So AI tools can track your expenses, it can predict cash flow issues, it can help ensure payments are on time, all of which are directly influenced— it influences business credit readiness, right? Absolutely.

Absolutely it does.

These tools, I'm telling you, these tools are very, very essential for any business. Especially.

Okay, so now we've been talking about the, the whole novice and how, how, how, how do people overcome, um, uh, AI? Why do so many small business owners resist adopting AI?

I, I honestly think it's because of fear, right?

Um, what do you mean, real fear or false evidence appearing real?

Yes, both. False evidence appearing real. I think my thing is people are afraid to step outside the box and deviate from what they normally do. Um, in this day and age, in this society, in this very moment, we cannot be fearful of things. We have to step outside the box. We have to, you know, take that next step and utilize things that's going to elevate us in the long run. And AI is—

Right.

Using these AI tools, AI is, is It's not, it's not going to disappear. Your fear has to disappear, but AI is not going to disappear. So you have to really take that leap. You've got to take that leap or you're going to be left behind. I keep saying that because it's very true. You're going to be left behind if you don't learn AI, if you're not.

So basically it goes into how much of it is the fear of technology versus, say, the fear of just change.

You know, I think it's a little bit of both because people— there's some people that just, they're not computer savvy, they're not tech savvy. So therefore, they're, you know, they're kind of hesitant to really learn how to use emails and learn all these other cool new tools that's out. But AI really forces business owners to rethink the processes. You know, change is uncomfortable for anybody.

Yeah.

But growth—

I mean, I'm one of those weird people that embrace change. Give it to me, baby. Give it to me.

Yeah, same here. Change is good. Change is good. And change is— change can be uncomfortable for people, but that's why you got to step outside the box and just realize that growth requires discomfort. Otherwise—

Now, you've touched on this and about the whole, you know, not tech savvy. So what do you say to entrepreneurs if you were speaking to them right now? What do you say to them when they say, you know, I'm not tech savvy, AI is not for me? What would you say to them?

I hear that all the time. Here's the beauty of it. AI doesn't require you to be tech savvy. Now, and that's the beauty of AI. You don't have to be tech savvy. You don't have to be an expert at this stuff. Start small. Start learning the basics of AI. Put it this way, if you can use an email, You can use the basic tools of these AI platforms. Most of these systems honestly are built for everyday people. They're not built for engineers. They're not built for people who know how to code. So that's the beauty of AI. And I love it.

Okay. Okay, people, listen. Maia is not just an expert at it. She's a trainer.

Yes.

Right? She can help you get from where you are to where you want to go by training you from a basic through an advanced level of how to use AI, right? So, Mya, are there low-risk ways for businesses to get started with AI? I mean, what would you say?

Yeah, absolutely. I would start as simple as responding to emails, automating emails, use AI scheduling tools, use simple AI writing assistance, ChatGPT can do that for you. So I'll give you an example. If you have a long email that you received from a partner or, you know, a colleague and you just don't want to— you don't have the time. It's not that you don't want to, but you don't have the time to like really read through this entire email. You can literally copy and paste that email into ChatGPT and prompt it to say, hey, analyze this email, give me a short-form example of what this person wants, and it'll spit out within seconds what that email is about. And you can even create the response for that email. So, you know, start there, start with these simple tools and go from there.

Somebody has a happy dog.

Oh, yes, he's very happy. He's a golden doodle. So, you know, he loves to bark at any and everything.

I got it. I got it. Hey, listen, so what are, what are the first 3 steps a small business should take to become AI What would you say?

I would say there's 3 steps really, right? So identify repetitive tasks and identify pain points in your business, and then choose the best AI tool that will automate any of those tasks for you. And then just look at the results, study the results, and then scale from there because you will see results, as previously mentioned, within 30 to 90 days. And that's good, right? It used to take years to Kind of realize, I know, right, working for me, but not with AI. AI is going to give you a quicker, um, quicker result. It's going to give you quicker results.

So what business functions do you see, uh, with the biggest, earliest, and biggest impact of AI today?

Oh, that's a good question. I really, I firmly believe, and this is based off of experience, Marketing, content creation, customer service, financial management. All of these types of business functions can be handled by AI, whether you're using it for outreach, to automate responses, to calculate, you know, just certain things within your business. It can be done much faster with AI as opposed to a human.

Okay. Well, with that, let's, let's step it up a little bit where you're not the individual business owner, right? You own the business, but now you have staff.

Yes.

How important is employee training and buy-in to AI or AI integration software?

It is very, very critical. It's very, very imperative. I'll just say this: employees need to trust the tools and get comfortable with using these tools. You have to implement training. of these AI tools within your business. I'll just say this. Yesterday I read an article of Emma Grande, I believe her name is. She is the CEO along with Khloe Kardashian for Good American Jeans. And she literally says that she has an AI day for all of her employees. And I really think that it's important for people to implement that into their business. You've got to have an AI training day, training month, an AI trainer of some sort to come in and train your employees on these types of tools and just really understanding how to use AI.

And single business owners, if you don't have a staff, listen to what she's saying. You need to take a day for yourself.

Absolutely.

To understand AI and what it can and can't do for you.

Yes.

Now with that, that pushes us into a subject area that AI is growing so fast.

Oh, yes.

Right? That some things may be pushed on the wayside. And I'll tell you, audience, I'm looking at interviewing an attorney that focuses on this part of AI. But while we're here, Myeah, what are some of the best practices for ethical and responsible AI usage?

Yeah, so I think the most important thing is when you're using AI, any kind of chatbot, You have to verify the data. You have to protect customer privacy and make sure that humans make the final decisions, right? Don't— again, I mentioned earlier, don't solely make a decision or use AI as like your answer. You have to kind of evaluate that answer, kind of, you know, make your tweaks to that answer and ensure that it is accurate before you say this is set in stone. So AI is— you got to remember, AI is a tool. It's not a boss, is not a supervisor. So you just got to remember that.

So with you saying that, that's a very good point. You should verify.

Absolutely.

Everything. You mentioned a word, and I'm glad we're going to talk about this. You mentioned a word, hallucination.

Yes.

Right. Yeah, we understand what that means in a practical sense, but from an AI standpoint, delve into hallucination a little bit. What does that mean and why would a small business owner care?

It's very important because with AI, there are things that are not accurate, which is why you have to go back and verify. AI can hallucinate, and that just means that it can produce inaccurate information. So, if you're using it to find case law, sometimes, you know, depending on how you prompted this AI tool, it will give you a hallucinated Um, statement. So that's why you have to—

Basically, it'll give you a fake case.

Yes.

Is what you're saying. It'll tell you a case that does not exist anywhere in any law books, in any law software.

Exactly.

So you have to be careful.

Absolutely.

Also in that, when you are prompting AI, look at the responses that it's giving. Remember, absolutely, AI searches the web. For this information.

Yes, it does.

And we all know that some of the garbage that's on the web is not real.

Oh yeah, no, it's not.

It's not factual, but you got to be careful.

Absolutely.

So, Maya, where do you see AI taking small business innovation in the next, say, 3 to 5 years?

AI will become the standard of operations. Businesses not using AI will operate slower. They'll lose money. They'll lose market share. So that's why I say it's so important now to integrate any type of AI into your business. If not, yeah, you're really going to be left behind. Again, I keep saying that because it's very true. You're going to be left behind.

So basically, AI becoming— will become as competitive, a competitive requirement like a website, right?

Absolutely. It absolutely will. I would, I would say by 20— not even by 2030, by 2027, 2028.

Yeah.

AI integration will be as essential as having a smartphone, a computer, having your business set up legally. It's going to be as important as that. And as a matter of fact, an executive order was signed in April of this year to promote AI literacy education for our youth. So that tells you something. That alone says a lot. So you have to take heed to what's really happening.

Don't become a dinosaur, people. Don't turn your head to the left or stick your head in the sand because you will get left behind.

Yes, indeed. You certainly will.

So what advice, what advice would you give to business owners who want to stay ahead of, say, the AI curve?

I would say start learning now. Be willing to learn and start implementing. Start now. Start learning. Even if you don't understand it, start learning. There's tons of AI gurus that are on YouTube that you can Google if you're, if you're unsure of something. Just start learning. Learn what ChatGPT is. I even have segments, um, where I train people, whether it's virtual or in person, on what ChatGPT is, how to use ChatGPT and other chatbots. But you gotta start learning.

Right.

You got to be willing to learn, and you gotta Just get out there and take that next step.

All right, people, here's the takeaway. AI is not replacing entrepreneurs. However, AI may replace entrepreneurs who use AI with entrepreneurs who are savvy about AI. It'll replace those who are not.

Definitely.

Integrating it today, position your business for tomorrow's opportunity. Listen, a huge thank to you. Thanks, thanks to you, Myia, for coming on.

Absolutely.

My dear friend, and joining us on the show. So how could people, how could people reach out to you?

Yeah. So if you're looking for the latest news, tips, and tools about AI, you can follow me on Instagram @financiallychicwomen. That's financially, C-H-I-C, women. You could find me there. And I always try to provide you guys with the latest and greatest updates about AI and what's happening in the AI world.

And if you missed that, I'm going to have it in the write-up. No problem. Also, if you want a simple roadmap— remember, this is the Small Business Credit Minute— if you want a simple roadmap to start building your business credit right away, go to our website fsbonly.com and grab your free business credit starter kit. It'll walk you through the first steps to get your business lender ready today. Remember, business credit isn't a score, it's your company's future.

Absolutely.

Thank you for tuning in to the Small Business Credit Minute. I hope you enjoyed today's content on being AI integrated. If you found value in today's episode, share it with your fellow entrepreneurs and leave a review so business owners can learn how they can grow smarter. And always remember, uh, we are one business community. Until next time, your dreams should have the right to prosper just like your business. Stay tuned for the next episode. We'll be coming up soon and bringing you some really good stuff. Maya, thank you so much again for being on the show.

Absolutely. Have a great day, everyone.

Talk to you soon.