Is AI really the answer? Why Simplicity Might Be the Key to Your Business Success
Part of being a business strategist is the ability to forecast likely scenarios in the future and then pivot as needed.
It helps me provide strategies for business owners like you to stay in a place of being proactive and keep the chaos of reactive business methods outside your day.
You would almost have to be living under a rock to not have heard about AI at this point…
So, what are my thoughts?
AI will definitely be a force to be reckoned with, but it should be used as a tool, not a replacement.
I think once it gets in full swing, we are going to see the major shift (I think it's already started) from people wanting to see real people again, no perfection, no filters, just authentic people.
Why do I think this?
Let's follow the trends
Holistic health- something that has been made taboo, has been on the rise for the past several years and shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon. People are starting to take their own health into their hands and learning ways to cure ailments they normally would have sought prescription medication for.
Everything from products to clothes- people are now searching to quality and willing to pay the price they have to pay to get it. People are sick of “throw away” products and clothes filled with chemicals and horrible quality.
Huge Corporations- noticed the shift in marketing from major businesses? All a sudden you see a face to the business- the days of showing a building with a logo are disappearing fast... their business model that is focused on profit margins rather than quality and customer service is now hitting their bottom line. So, in effort to save face and show a little "we are in this together" inspiration, they have had to change the way they look to the public. (notice I didn't say anything about improvement of customer service).
Now throw in the fact that people are losing their jobs to AI machines that require no employee benefits and can work 24/7 without the employee laws coming for them- we are just beginning to see the growing pains of what is to come.
Which brings us to online business- A Hot Topic in many conversations (and where my first business has lived for the past five years.)
In the online space- the 2020 new online business bubble busted a while ago, what we had was a ton of online business coaches who made thousands if not millions off of people who wanted to learn skills and build businesses online-
What we saw in the end was a lot of fake-it-til-you-make-it advice getting thrown around and then they couldn't deliver on their promises.
Their clients were left after they had burned through their savings by listening to bad advice and ultimately had to back to a fulltime job.
It wasn't just coaches- but I would say there was a majority of fly by night coaching that promoted cookie cutter frameworks with bad business advice that hurt a lot of people.
The biggest name brands that are still around today are the ones that could delivers on their promises… and that’s exactly what we are here to help you do.
Now the newest shift is AI…
We are already seeing the shift in marketing alone in the online space, everyone is scrambling to find their place… sharpen their skills. And the biggest shift I have noticed is how people are already being more personal, their pictures may still be business brands, but their everyday pictures are more personal, no filters, make-up optional, they’re words a less refined, more conversational…
Trying to stand out in a sea of AI perfection that hasn’t even really begun yet.
I see a very quickly growing market for natural people, conversation, and people skilled services… coming very soon.
Everyone will get sick of perfect people and robotic words with no emotion (yes, you can train your AI for the emotion or look you want… but do you really want to?)
Everyone is either trying to learn it, sell it, or avoid it at all costs.
I do think it would be beneficial to learn the aspects that will help you personally in business- like taking on some of the backend automation in your business. Taking on the repeatable mundane functions of your day-to-day… Again, using it as a tool rather than letting it take over how you do business.
But even then, you have to have enough clarity to know exactly what you need and how to make it happen… and know that it’s not a one-time setup, there will always be critiquing and improvements needed.
Which is why it made sense for us to start NLS, when we did.
People are already reverting back to simplicity.
Who cares if you have a seventeen-link automation doing the work for you, if you can’t fix it quickly when it breaks.
And things are always going to break.
So, your options are to keep someone on your team to fix what is broken or take the time to learn the ins and outs yourself…. which will add one more thing to your already full plate.
Or
You can go with simplicity that gets the job done.
Because history, does repeat itself.
Have we heard that before?
I have had the privilege of speaking at events and guesting on podcast on the topic of helping businesses scale without the overwhelm. It’s about finding the clarity amidst the chaos… about keeping things simple and get rid of the fluff that is holding you back and stressed the heck out… and knowing who can help you do that.
When we are able to stop getting distracted by all the new and different things around us and only focus on exactly what we need to do to hit the goals we have set… it makes decision making and business as a whole, a lot simpler.
If you are in a business that is high tech, and you need a ton of moving pieces… then AI will be very beneficial to your business, and an AI expert team member will be a big need in the near future.
But for many small businesses, technology feels like an extra layer of complexity they don’t need. AI promises to fix everything, but it can very easily lead to more confusion.
I see pros and cons with including it in some functions of business… I won’t say that we won’t use AI in some of our functions needed for NLS- we use it lightly already.
But a contingency plan is a must!
It brings me back to when Tech and Systems started making their way into a local business I was working in and everyone adapted to using this system… it was working great. Until everything shut down, no system, no wifi, no phones…
And then everyone was lost… they had gotten so used to depending on the tech to help in the day to day, they could not remember what to do when they had to resort back to paper for the time being. It was a day of chaos… and it happened more than once.
At NLS, we help you cut through the complexity and focus on what really matters- building your business the way you want.
At this time, I don’t see the need for complex systems or AI ran businesses for local small businesses especially in the trades sector. Structure and organization and very light tech stacks will make a much bigger impact than a complex system that no-one will want to deal with.
If you are considering a big tech stack to add to your business, ask yourself… will my target market react well to this?
If you are teetering on “I know I need to do something, I just don’t know what”
At NLS, we help businesses who are tired of all the noise and complexity of made for everyone plans with vague goals.
We focus on the core strategies that actually move the needle- giving you the clarity, direction, and plan that works for you.
Making it easy to make quick decisions on the future needs of your business and hit your goals by focusing on the things that really matter.
Book your free strategy session and let’s talk about where you are today in business…
and where you want to be in the near future.
Talk Soon.
#smallbusinessgrowth #businessclarity #strategicmapping #scalesimply