Step 1: Choose a task you already understand
Good first candidates include preparing meeting agendas, rewriting unclear instructions, creating a checklist or drafting a response using an approved template. Avoid high-stakes decisions or tasks that require sensitive information for your first trial.
The task needs a defined finish line. “Make us more efficient” isn't one. “Produce a first draft of a weekly team agenda from five approved bullet points” is.
Step 2: Decide what information can be used
Before opening a tool, check the product's privacy settings and your business rules. Don't assume that because something is labelled AI for business, any customer or employee data may be pasted into it. Use invented names, sample transactions and publicly shareable details where possible.
Step 3: Give a clear instruction
A useful instruction includes the job, audience, relevant context, constraints and output format. For example:
Using the fictional notes below, draft a 150-word appointment-confirmation email for a cleaning customer. Use plain Australian English. Include only the times and policies supplied. Mark missing information as [CHECK] rather than inventing it. Do not send anything.
The instruction can improve the draft. It cannot guarantee the draft will be correct. Check it against the source information.
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Step 4: Compare against your existing process
Use the same kind of task with and without AI. Record minutes spent preparing, checking and correcting. Note any unsupported claims, awkward wording or missing details. The test should tell you whether the process improved, not whether the output looked impressive.
Worked example: the owner preparing a weekly meeting
Fictional example. A six-person landscaping business spends 35 minutes preparing a weekly operations agenda. The owner gives an AI assistant fictional updates about jobs, staff availability and equipment issues. It drafts an agenda in four minutes. The owner takes eight minutes to check and adapt it.
The total falls from 35 to 12 minutes in this trial. That is an illustrative time saving of 23 minutes, not a forecast for other businesses. The owner still decides priorities, checks dates and leads the meeting.
Step 5: Set a simple operating rule
Write down who can use the tool, for which task, what information is prohibited, who checks the result and when to stop. Do not buy multiple subscriptions or connect the tool to customer systems before the small trial has earned that step.
A practical first trial might take one week. If the result is mixed, change the process or the instruction and test again. If it adds effort or risk, stop.
Your next action
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Keep names, private customer details and confidential information out of your notes. Device saving is optional. Only the separate Send my lesson work button below sends anything to Greg. There is no account or cross-device sync.
Two questions before you move on
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Lesson: How to Start Using AI in Your Business. Please do not include confidential client, financial, health or staff information.
Questions this lesson answers
Do I need to learn coding to use AI in my small business?
Not for basic drafting, planning or summarising. Advanced integration, security design and custom systems may require technical expertise.
What should I do after the first AI test?
Check whether it improved quality, time and risk. Document the approved use, review responsibilities and limitations before considering wider use.
Work out where your business is getting stuck
The free Growth Diagnostic asks ten questions across acquisition, conversion, relationships, delivery and commercial control. It gives you an area to investigate and three things you can do next.
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