Starting your business in the age of AI- You’ve Got This!

Guest post by Rhea Freeman, author of You’ve Got This: How to supercharge your business and conquer your goals 

When you start a new business, there’s a mix of feelings – there’s excitement, but there’s also a side helping of overwhelm when you start to identify the knowledge gaps you have that you need to fill. In the age of AI, this might be even more pronounced, but fear not – business coach and mentor (and AI enthusiast) Rhea Freeman, has written You’ve Got This to help provide a blueprint to achieve what you want, overcome lack of knowledge and self belief, banish overwhelm, and much more besides.

Starting your business in the age of AI

Mindset is essential when it comes to starting a new business and being successful in it. A good mindset will allow you to see things you don’t know as an opportunity, ‘failure’ as a lesson, and what others have achieved as evidence of what you can do. When you have a less helpful mindset, everything becomes a disaster or a stressful situation. And this can also apply to the rise and integration of AI in business.

Many people approach AI with caution. Maybe it’s the films showing robots and clever machines taking over the world and becoming autonomous, or it could just be that we’re naturally wired to be distrustful of things we don’t know. Either way, AI is here to stay and it can make your life a whole lot easier when it comes to running your business, it can also help your home life run better too!

We need to approach AI like anything else we don’t know – with an open mind. In You’ve Got This, one of the chapters is all about overcoming lack of knowledge, and for many the use of AI to support their business falls into this area. Before you decide it’s not for you, do the research… here are some places to start:

Training- there are a great many ways to learn more about AI- and some of these options are free. Google has courses that help to share the fundamentals of AI, how it works and how to utilise it. There are also a whole lot of experts out there with free trainings as webinars or on YouTube. And if you feel you’d like something more structured to go to the next level, there are options out there too. I did the CIM Level 6 Specialist Award in AI Marketing last year and really enjoyed it.

Explore – there are plenty of AI tools you can try for free. ChatGPT and Google Gemini are two that are popular and easy to use if you’re looking for help with research or idea generation. The best thing to do is to just start exploring; try different things and see what it can do.

Expand – AI doesn’t end with these text. Image generation AI, chatbots, AI that helps to sort and organise information- there’s a lot available to help you streamline, free up time, and focus on your zone of genius.

Improve- one of the key things that makes AI work well is the effectiveness of the prompts or the information you put into it. If you’re vague, you’re more than likely to receive a vague answer. If you’re specific it helps. For example ‘social media ideas’ might be what you want, but ‘social media ideas for mum of one who has a small craft business that makes handmade pottery’ will generate more useful results if that’s who you are!

Review – reviewing your work is an essential part of any process, and it’s the same with your usage of AI. You might find that some tasks you’re trying to use it for just aren’t working for you – that’s fine, focus on those that are or try new areas to make your life easier.

It can be overwhelming to think that you have ‘yet another’ thing to learn, but this is where we need to deploy a technique called reframing. Yes, it’s another thing to learn, but what if you shifted your mindset to look at the time, energy and frustration that this new skill could save you if you just embraced it? There are many blocks that will appear on your business journey, don’t let fear of the unknown a lack of knowledge stop you from making the progress you and your business deserve.

More about the author

Based in the sometimes sunny county of Worcestershire, I have lots of form with small and medium sized business. I’ve helped clients promote their products far and wide utilising conventional PR and marketing techniques as well as video, content marketing, collaboration, sponsorship and social media. More recently, the focus has shifted towards social media and digital marketing because of the opportunities that holds and the incredible return on investment that can be achieved.

Equestrian and rural

The equestrian and rural sector is where I spend a lot of my time, but increasingly I’m working with people who are based in a rural location. In essence, because of the way I work (and this will be explained in a paragraph’s time!), I tap into your expertise when it comes to your industry – you’re the expert when it comes to your business, and that’s exactly the reason I work with you. It’s a team effort. There’s no I in team and all that.

Small business coaching

Now, I also have a lot of form in helping businesses get more bang for their buck – because promoting yourself doesn’t have to cost a fortune. Whether you’re a start up on a shoestring budget looking for ways to promote yourself more effectively, an established brand looking to make what you have work harder, or a business that would benefit from a little guidance and a fresh injection of ideas. Maybe you’re looking to expand your reach and add new areas to your offering, I’m here to help.

Social media skills

I help a number of small businesses, bloggers and influencers develop their social media skills – whether this is through my Small & Supercharged Extra group, the Small & Supercharged Mastermind group, through the digital courses I offer, or through my work as an accredited #SheMeansBusiness trainer. In addition to this I am also Facebook Blueprint Certified.

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