A practical guide by Mind with Tools
AI Biblefor Small Business
You already have an assistant. Give it a job.
For small-business owners, and for people getting ready to start.
This book shows you which jobs to hand to AI, how to brief it, how to judge what comes back, and which paid tools deserve a place in your business.
Can you check it at a glance?
Could you survive the worst version?
Run the two questions on your own week.
From Chapter 1
Useful AI comes down to four decisions.
Reviews to answer. An enquiry from this morning. The post you meant to write. A quote to redo. When you do every job yourself, a chatbot that can draft some of them is worth learning to use well. Hiring help may not be in the budget, but the chatbot you already have is. Using it well comes down to four decisions, and this book walks you through each one.
Which jobs to hand over.
A quick test you can run on any job in your week.
What to tell it.
Briefs you can borrow, a voice guide you write once, and worked examples for customer follow-up, marketing and admin.
How to judge what comes back.
What to check before anything reaches a customer, and how to measure whether handing a job over is worth it.
Which tools deserve a place.
How to decide before you pay, and how to review what you already pay for.
With the book, each decision has a method behind it instead of a guess. Here is what each one looks like on the page.
Which jobs? Ask two questions.
Chapter 1 runs every job through the same test.
- Can you check it at a glance?
- Could you survive the worst version?
Then it tries the test on three jobs most owners carry.
The reply to that routine positive review you've been avoiding. Can you check it at a glance? Yes: you know what happened, and you know your policy. Could you survive the worst version? Yes: a bad draft dies in your drafts folder. Delegate it.
"What does this clause in my lease actually mean?" Can you check it? No, and that's not a gap in you; it's why professionals exist. Take it back. The clause keeps its lawyer; the machine still earns its seat by drafting the three questions you'll ask them: the same labor pointed at a survivable job.
The quote arithmetic you redo every week. Checkable? Only after you tick every intended line and rate against the job source, then re-add the total. Survivable? Price the version where an expensive line is still missing after both checks. If honoring that quote would hurt, take it back; if it is affordable, delegate under both checks.
Three jobs, three different answers. Even the lease, which stays with your lawyer, has a piece AI can do. Complaints, refund requests and disputes are a different job again; the book keeps those with a named person.
Read the full Chapter 1 sampleWhat to tell it, and how to judge the draft.
Take the review reply the book just handed over. Here is how the free worksheet briefs it, for a made-up café.
From the free worksheet
The review
“Friendly service and a lovely cup of tea. I’ll come back.”
The brief
Tone: warm, plain and brief. Maximum 35 words. Thank the reviewer. Do not add discounts, promises, personal details, product claims or facts that are not in the review.
The draft
The line to catch is the one nobody authorized: the free pastry. The book’s version of that check is short.
From Chapter 1
Tonight, one thing, about five minutes, in the free chatbot you already have open.
[…]
Draft. Check it against what you know. Fix what needs fixing, or find nothing and know it. Keep the made-up reply as practice. Never post it.
Chapter 12 covers what to set up before real customer information goes into a tool.
Get the free worksheetThe same habits, across your week
Customer follow-up
Never Miss Another Customer
Follow-Up You Won't Forget
Write down what to say, what not to promise and when to stop. Use it each time you ask for a follow-up draft, then read the draft and send it yourself.
Marketing
Marketing Without a Marketing Department
Write a short voice guide and a repeatable brief once. Reuse them with each request, so you aren’t explaining your business from scratch every time. Check facts and tone before anything goes live.
Admin
A Lighter Back Office
Try one recurring back-office task for real. Count the checking and corrections along with the drafting; that count tells you whether AI has earned the job.
Which tools deserve a place?
Before you pay
Chapter 3’s five-question filter, and a “skip it if…” test for every tool the book covers.
Free guide: what an AI tool really costs a small business, counting setup, checking and corrections, not just the subscription.
After you’ve paid
Chapter 13, The Software Payroll, reviews your tools the way you would review staff. It starts with one hour on a Friday. Sweep thirteen months of payments, list every software charge, work out what each one costs over a year, and begin the verdicts.
From Chapter 13
Friday is the first hour of the audit, not a rushed two-hour cancellation spree.
[…]
Keep / Prove / Exit. Say each tool's one-sentence job out loud; hesitation is data.
[…]
Expect the cancel-flow gauntlet (the discount offer, the guilt screen); your card on file was the product, and leaving is usually the feature they made hardest.
The hour starts the sorting. Exports, cancellations and anything involved get their own scheduled time later.
Fourteen chapters, from the first hire to your next twelve months.
Notes mark the chapters this page has previewed.
- The Strangest Employee You'll Ever Hirethe two questions
- The Worker's Failure Map
- The Five-Question Filterbefore you pay for a tool
- Never Miss Another Customercustomer follow-up
- Marketing Without a Marketing Departmentthe voice guide and repeatable brief
- Follow-Up You Won't Forgetcustomer follow-up
- A Lighter Back Officetesting a recurring task
- The Glue: Assistants and Automation
- Your Trade's Own Traps
- Probation: The Rollout
- Headcount, Honestly
- Stay Out of Trouble: Data, Promises, and Compliancebefore real customer information goes into a tool
- The Software PayrollKeep / Prove / Exit
- Your Next Twelve Months
Plus appendices, worked examples, exercises, worksheets and dated source notes that show when the facts were checked.
The whole book, $9.99.
- Fourteen chapters, from the first hire to your next twelve months
- Worked examples for customer follow-up, marketing and admin
- Exercises and worksheets, starting with five minutes tonight
- Appendices and dated source notes
Checkout and download through Gumroad. Taxes may apply.
Five minutes tonight. The rest when you’re ready.
Questions
I’m not technical. Is this for me?
Yes. No coding is needed to read the book, and the first exercise uses the free chatbot you already have. Some later workflows need setup or separate paid services; those aren’t included in the book price.
I haven’t opened my business yet. Will it help?
Yes. You can practise on made-up enquiries and draft materials before launch. It’s a book about using AI in the work, not a complete guide to starting a business.
What do I get, and what can I read it on?
One ebook in EPUB format. Read it on a phone, tablet or computer with an EPUB reading app. Gumroad handles checkout and the download.
Which edition do I get from this page?
The EPUB edition. Buying through this page takes you to Gumroad, where you check out and download it.
What about refunds?
Check the seller’s refund policy and checkout terms on Gumroad before you pay.