09/29/2026
Small business and Ai and why I don't think canceling or not supporting someone is the answer.
Before you read this, picture the person behind the small business.
Not the logo. Not the Facebook ad.
The actual person, just like you. Likely similar struggles with family, groceries, gas and work.
Picture someone sitting at their kitchen table after working all day, trying to figure out marketing, scheduling, invoices and tomorrow's jobs, while also trying to have a life and be there for their family.
Now let's talk about small businesses using AI.
What's the point of a small business?
I think for a lot of people, it starts with an idea.
You know how to build something. Fix something. Clean something. Create something. Provide a service.
And you think, “I could do this for myself.”
Sometimes you don’t know exactly how. You just decide you’ll figure it out as you go.
The problem is, being good at what you do doesn’t automatically make you good at running a business.
Suddenly you’re the owner, scheduler, worker, estimator, salesperson, accountant, customer service department and marketing team.
And sometimes small businesses fall short.
A call gets missed. Someone is late. Communication could have been better. A job takes longer than expected.
I’m not saying those things shouldn’t matter.
But I can almost guarantee you that behind a lot of small businesses is someone trying really hard to figure out a lot of things at once.
Recently, I’ve seen people criticizing small businesses for using AI in their marketing.
And I struggle with that one.
I don’t know everything about AI. I know there are legitimate concerns around it and there’s a much bigger conversation to be had.
But I also know what it can do for someone like me.
It can help create something that I might otherwise have to pay someone hundreds of dollars to make.
I don't always have hundreds of dollars to spend on marketing.
I think a lot of small businesses don't.
That money might need to buy materials, replace a tool, pay insurance, put fuel in the truck or simply keep the business going another week.
Yes, Canva exists. So do marketing companies, graphic designers and plenty of other options.
But all of those require either money, time, another skill to learn, or some combination of the three.
AI gives a small-business owner another option.
And it isn't always as simple as pushing a button.
I’ve rarely made something with AI and used the first version. I still have to explain what I want, change things, correct things, try again and decide whether the end result actually represents me and my business.
The tool helped me create it.
The business is still mine.
The work is still mine.
The reputation is still mine.
And when you hire a small business, you're not hiring their Facebook ad.
You're hiring the person who shows up at your house, builds your deck, fixes your plumbing, cleans your office, makes your product or provides whatever service they built their business around.
I think there should absolutely be conversations about how AI is used.
But I don't think a small business should lose your support simply because they used AI to make a poster look better, write something more clearly or create marketing they otherwise couldn't afford.
Small businesses are already trying to compete with companies that have marketing departments, designers, photographers and advertising budgets.
Sometimes AI just gives the little guy access to a tool they never had before.
Maybe instead of asking, “Did they use AI?”
We should be asking:
Are they good at what they actually do?
