AI basics for your business
Ten tasks you can hand to AI tomorrow
Ten concrete everyday tasks in a small business, each with a short instruction you can try straight away.
6 min read
No big projects, no new software. These are ten ordinary small-business tasks where AI can already save time today. Before you paste anything in, remove names and sensitive data, unless you're on a business plan.
1. Replying to a difficult email
Instruction: "Here's an email from an unhappy customer. Write a calm, honest reply of no more than 120 words. Acknowledge the problem, explain what we're doing and propose one concrete next step."
2. Summarising a meeting
Instruction: "Turn these notes into a short summary with decisions, actions with an owner, and open questions."
3. Getting a quote or proposal started
Instruction: "Draft a structure for a quote for [service] for [type of customer]. Use these prices: [prices]. Leave blank anything you don't know."
4. Writing a job advert
Instruction: "Write a job advert for [role] in a business with [number] staff. Concrete, no clichés, describing what a normal day looks like."
5. Translating and adapting a text
Instruction: "Translate this email into French for a customer in Wallonia. Natural Belgian French, formal 'vous', not a literal translation."
6. Getting to grips with a long document
Instruction: "Summarise this document in five points and give me three questions to ask before I decide."
7. Writing down a work instruction
Instruction: "I'll explain how we do [task]. Turn it into step-by-step instructions a new colleague can follow, with points to watch at each step."
8. Writing a LinkedIn post
Instruction: "Write a post of no more than 120 words on [topic] for business owners in our region. Honest, no big promises, ending with one question."
9. Getting an Excel formula
Instruction: "Column A has dates, column B has amounts. I want the total per month. Give me the formula and explain it in two sentences."
10. Preparing for a conversation
Instruction: "Tomorrow I'm meeting [person or customer] about [topic]. Give me five questions to ask and three objections I might hear, each with a short response."
Where to start
Pick two you need to do this week anyway. Try them with AI and compare the result with your usual approach. Note how long it took, including checking. That's the most honest way to see what AI does for your work.
Pause and reflect
Your answers stay only in this browser.
Prompt to copy
This is my role: [role] in a [type of business]. These are my recurring tasks: [list]. Choose the three tasks where AI will save me time fastest, and write an instruction for each that I can use straight away.
