Should Small Businesses Be Worried About Generative AI? - Featuring Anne Shaw

In this episode: 

• What aspects of your business should you hire someone else to do, and what should you do yourself? 
• How can you fortify your business against the rising popularity of generative AI?
• When should you raise prices in your own business? 

Owning a business is a challenge. Knowing how to keep innovating in your business is an even bigger one. Join restaurant owner, motivational speaker, and innovation expert Sara Frasca each week as she guides fellow business owners in taking the next step to level up their business. If you've ever pondered hiring a business coach but want a sample first, come along for the adventure!

Send us a message to join the show for free business guidance: https://pointnortheast.com/contact-us/

Sara Frasca is the founder and owner of Trasca & Co Eatery in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, an experienced and engaging motivational speaker, and the CEO of global business coaching firm Point NorthEast.

Transcript

Unknown: 0:00

You're listening to level up your business, the podcast where we talk to hardworking business owners and leaders and help them solve real issues in real time. I'm your host, Sarah Frasca restaurant owner, keynote speaker and business coach. I've spent my career not only in corporate America, but also as an entrepreneur, carrying on my family's legacy through my restaurant. Now a business coach and consultant. I'm helping other businesses to use creative problem solving and innovative thinking to drive lasting change. Stay tuned to hear some inspiring guidance that will help you to level up your business. Okay, well, hello to everyone out there. Sarah Frassati, here joined in my home studio office with an Shah, thank you so much for being with us. And Mike's the poan, who is just across the state on the other side of Florida. Hello, Mike. Hello, thank you for having me. Thank you for being here. So I figured we could start out with a little bit of an introduction of who each of us is. And just as because I'm the one talking I'll start. So I'm Sarah Frasca. I am the co owner, co founder of point ne, which is a business growth consulting firm. So really trying to take all of our clients up into the right, we call it so whether that's revenue profitability, I would say retention, productivity, balance, I mean, it really can span a number of topics and issues, we just really want to improve the life and the work and the business for our clients. So that's kind of the intention of building point, northeast. I also own a restaurant, I have five kids, and sort of the background here of how I know and is that we got to work together for a while. And that was really fun. We were both coaches in an organization doing consulting similarly. And so I got to know and and just obviously fell in love with her perspective, her intentions, I mean, I've very, very seldom come across anyone with as big of a heart of gold truly, like, would give you the shirt off her back would do anything for any human. I just really feel like you're talking about yourself, right? No, no, I'm talking. I'm talking about you. And you. And I just again, thank you for being willing to be our very first business leader guest on our potluck. I know it's not fun. So and, and children, and my children and my husband are all at the same school too. So I have to announce that like, we have all sorts of community connections. And so we do come across each other, in fact, came across each other at a football game where I said, and you want to be on our podcast. And she was like, yes. So that's why we're here. Do you want to do your intro now, I will do my intro next. So I'm in shock. And I have worked with Sarah in the past as a coach doing implementations, helping companies come up with their vision, and then how to make sure they're strategically aligned from the top all the way through the ranks of their organization. So they stay on track. And I also do a lot of business writing, as part of my business. And that could be lots of times it's marketing, then that bleeds into customer experience marketing, and then getting into content strategy. And you write for a lot of big brands, it's kind of fun, and, and does a lot of writing for some of the biggest brands in the world. So kind of fun, but I know the background on that know how coveted you are at some of these big brands. So again, really fun. Thank you. Yes, Mike, how about you? So how about me, so my name is Mike Topo. And I'm a senior advisor with Wayne northeast, I have been an entrepreneur my entire life, I founded my first company at the age of 19, which I ran for over 30 years. And so that a few years back, I've been doing consulting work since 2008 started with some of my clients in my one of my companies have had a host of businesses, everything from, you know, restaurants to commercial real estate development and kind of a little bit of everything. So I really enjoy working with small business owners and diving in. And I think the neat thing about what we do at point Northeast is that we're not just pointing out the issue like hey, you're, you know, profitability is lower, and this is the issue we're really diving in deep and, and solving the solving the problem and, and I'm really excited to hear what's keeping you up at night. Yeah. Yes, well, that's a lead in to the podcast. So, you know, we call it level up your business because we want to continually take all of the metrics up into the right. But we just started this and so you know, there's some real intent finality with how I kind of wanted this to come to life. I want it to be real people helping real people. And so, in that I mean that we have had no insight as to what Ann is going to answer with this question. And it actually came up during the course of the week, like, Oh, should we get some clues from her? But no, like, I really think that this is one of our strengths at point NE And you know, if a business owner or a business leader comes to us and says, I am having trouble with XY and Z, we will dig in, and it doesn't matter the topic, and I guess maybe another one of these kind of strengths for point northeast, in my opinion, obviously, I'm biased, but like, I'm not afraid to be wrong, right? Like, I'm not afraid to have really dumb ideas, like in a brainstorm in working with someone, there might be, you know, two dozen ideas we come up with, and only two of them might be I don't know what ideas of yours will spark ideas with other people who agree. Agreed. And so I think that's the energy that I'm looking to bring with this podcast is just like, having a business leader answer the question, what is keeping you up at night? What are your challenges seven other way? And then we'll just dive in and have a conversation, we'll refer back and forth. Let's see if we can't solve your challenge. Okay. Okay. All right. So with that, I would say I'm gonna grab my pen and paper, because I really want to make sure I'm taking good notes. As you tee this up, I would say, you don't have to be brief, just like, give us give it to us, like, tell us what's keeping you up at night. So I'll give a little background of kind of my lifestyle. And the reason I do have my own business. And then I'm gonna give kind of like two options, Mike. So maybe that'll make you feel a little more. Yeah, so we can do both. Or you guys can choose zero in on whatever. So, for me, the reason I started my own business was sort of, I would say, accidental. I worked in corporate marketing was doing very well really enjoyed it loved my employer. But I had, I was a mom of young children. And he had some bad experiences with childcare, where I no longer felt comfortable and just felt a pole for either my husband or myself to stay home with it. So went back and forth, there are a few different times that he almost stayed home and whatnot. But I ended up staying home and saying, Okay, I'll do some freelance writing. We'll see how it goes. So my employer became one of my first clients and it snowballed word of mouth, I kind of felt guilty because I would be preaching marketing consulting advice, and I didn't take myself because for me, word of mouth was enough. So I just kind of was trying not to start a business because I was thinking. But thankfully, it became successful enough that I really did need to organize an LLC and files and escort and all that, because to make sure I was getting wise and paying taxes, so did organize my business, became an LLC. And when I was working with a company that Sarah and I both worked for, we were both independent. contracting, I guess, for that one. So that's why I have my business. So I'm always balancing. Now the kids are older, I could really dive in more, but balancing out my goals of having my business support life, and not catering my life too much to my business. Okay, so So right now. The two pages that I have are dismissed service keeping accounting taxes, cost recovery, business cost going up. Yeah. And I've always tried to keep my expenses very, very low. Have a very simple if you look at my books, super simple, really my only regular expense to payroll of myself. Yeah, was my accounting firm. And they raised their price 50%. And I decided I thought about it and decided to do away with it and figure out if I want to do it all myself, which I kind of did my own bookkeeping anyway. But they had my back when it came to all the taxes. There's no good peace of mind to have when you're not an accountant to know somebody who knows what they're doing right. And then, so I'm trying to decide, do I take it all on me? Or do other things? Okay, I got it. Then the second one, they get more. It's an interesting, we'll see what you think. Okay. So a lot of people in my industry are worried about generative AI. And I have actually written about AI for the past couple of years, not generative ai ai in general and the potential opportunities that are coming and then The potential businesses that use it, yes. So machine learning, AI. Interesting. And now the fact that you can use a tool that will write everything for you, right? And all, to me, I see risk, of course, opportunity. We're talking about prices going up and businesses say, hey, that's I can use this very cheap flash. I need for my marketing my website. But there are risks that come with that. And so to people in my industry, too, it's do we embrace? And is that AI to make our output increase and use our time more wisely. But what risks come with that, and I have my own ideas developing about it. But for me, too, on the consultative side of helping businesses to understand, okay, this is the wise way to use the tool. And there are some unwise ways to you. And then to I mean, existentially, will I no longer be needed in the next few years? Yeah. Right. So that's, that's the to the more practical side and future vision side. Okay. I just wanted to ask you to reiterate, because it might broke up just a hair during the first one. So can you just give me the summary on number one? I just want to make sure I have a clear Oh, sure. Yeah. So the business services costs going up for all businesses. And then for my business, specifically, my book, my accounting and tax service was 50%. Higher. Starting, you know, it was this month, I cancelled it. Yeah, so that that's my main expense beyond my own payroll. And I just also wasn't super satisfied with how tax season went last year. So actually, yeah, yeah, I really ended up doing myself. So I thought, might as well just do it myself for free. Totally. But I don't know that I feel 100% Confident. Okay. Okay. Um, logistically, I'm curious, Mike, if you want to mute your mic, as we are talking only because I think it is reverberating on your end. I'm not sure if that's our technical issue. But again, that's not my strong suit. So I might be wrong. What do you think? Sounds a little bit. Okay. Okay. So, um, I do have some questions. So, you know, I think as a, I'm going to the first one first, okay. Okay, so you and your husband have like both an interest in working, but also being a family and making sure that your kids have the support necessary? Have you? How many hours are you working? Or how many do you desire to us? During the school year, I usually work up to 35 hours per week. During the summer, I try to keep it to 2025 a week. Okay. I was going to ask you about seasonality, like whether you took time off for the holidays or for the summer or we happen to be in a school district that is not a year round school. So we do have about what, yeah, nine or 10 weeks off? And we do and so during those times, I'll scale back or I work way way ahead. So leading up to a vacation or the holidays that might work more hours. Get ahead load. Yeah, yeah. Okay, tell me a little bit more about the types of engagements are taking? Are they like monthly retainers, or are they more project based or hourly? Or how are you? I like to have a mix of both. A lot of times with freelance writers you hear like oh Chase, the retainers get the retainers. And that's great. And you know, you have that sort of guarantee for the length of the contract of a steady income. Yes, but I do think if you lean too heavily into retainers, you're starting to put all your eggs in fewer baskets. And it could be devastating to lose, you know, a client Yeah, so I have a mix of small retainers. I try not to take any on that are too big I have in the past. So I have a mix of small retainers and then long long term project based clients where we've been working together for eight years, but everything we do together is project by project. Right. Okay. Okay. And, okay, so this is on just kind of like your overall team. So you do have a CPA that you've used in the past? Yeah, you didn't in the last year. So that that service Yeah, is a company that was created for small businesses, especially s corpse, LLC solopreneurs, to help them set up their outlet which I had done myself, but they'll help new companies set it all up. Okay. It's a great idea. And then they'll do you know, bookkeeping taxes, they'll help them set up payroll and whatnot. And they'll do their taxes, personal and business, okay. I kind of was using grace with this company because they were a startup. Sure. When I was I was one of their first customers. So it was, it's a really great model and they can be really helpful. I just think for me, having such a simple organization. Yeah, I didn't need all the extra help they could give me but I was paying for it. You're not employing anyone else. You subcontract. Okay. All right. And then you just pay them like based on an invoice that they turn in. Okay, so what about an accountant? Or like who's running payroll? I have it on gussto payroll? So that's like an automatic like, easy system, okay? And I'm the admin for that. Okay, got it. Got it. Um, are you keeping a p&l like in QuickBooks or in a spreadsheet? You've got QuickBooks, QuickBooks and gussto? Are the two software. Okay, that's great. Those are both great systems, I think wise, nice to be able to, like, automatically turn in a p&l at the end of the year to your income or if needed, but go ahead, Mike, your question. So what was the accounting firm doing for you what it was, you know, were they running? They were entering the data in your QuickBooks like daily expenses, or give me an overview of what they were actually doing? Yeah, that's a good question. So with when we first started, because, again, they were in startups, so they were kind of evolving over the course of the two years that I worked with them, or that I was their client. So at first, they were really heavy in the formation, which again, I didn't need the full thing, I had already set up my escort file, or LLC file as an escort, you know, fill out the form where I would get taxed that way. And so but they did go in, I have gusto and QuickBooks, they, though can go in and set that up for you. And, and I appreciated this, because if you've not done payroll before, it's surprisingly, not confusing, I would say, but you question yourself alone? Am I doing this correctly? Yes, am I gonna get bit in the end, when I come back, you know, am I setting up the taxes correctly, the payment schedule, whatever. So they had, they have accountants on staff who go in and double check, setup both QuickBooks and gusto. And then they file your business taxes for you. They file they help you with your personal tax return as well. And then they later on added regular bookkeeping services. Again, I didn't want to use it because I felt I never want to have something in my business being one person band. And keep trying to keep things really simple, where I have to depend on someone else. And I no longer have any idea what's going on. Right? Right. So I didn't because again, my books are very simple. I like being in them. I like reconciling and categorizing. I want to know what's going on and track my income. But some of their clients, you know, that was great for them. So their advantage on bookkeeping again, I did not use that. But that's something that they could they would looked over my shoulder every month and made sure my books looked good. So those were the services. So one question I have for you. I mean, are you spending a lot of time doing the bookkeeping, the accounting the payroll that No, not like the thing that keeps me up at night? Perfect is okay. I've never done my business taxes before. Yeah, is there I think I know what I'm doing with it. Is there something I'm missing? And I don't know. And I know Tilak likes me. Right, right. Yeah. So do I need to file something quarterly? Or Is gussto doing that for me? And I don't have to worry. And I just file a simple form at the end of the fiscal year. So have you ever I was just curious. Have you ever come across a CPA that just does the final look? Yeah, me too. Yeah, I think that might be like the, and the reason I bring this up is that believe it or not? Last year, so during 2022 I got audited, my payroll was audited in 2017 Oh, way back totally, five years later. And so luckily, I kept really good records. And I was like, $12 off or something cuckoo. And they were like, Yeah, you're good. Yeah. But it does make me nervous. And I would say the risk management part of me and say, protect yourself a bit by just having one final look by someone who does this. I mean, this is like changing oil for them. Right? Like they know how to do this in and out Yeah, asleep like they I think for me, too. It's I want to make sure it's someone I trust who other people have trusted right. So really a lot of referrals probably because this service that debt does do this all the time, to your point like changing the oil to a mechanic. On my personal tax return, I reviewed what they sent me and I would have missed out on almost 15 grand in tax return. Oh, I hadn't caught their mistake. So then I'm like, I need to make sure it's someone who's good. Right? Well, I think they were doing too many. It was a volume problem and a stretched thin problem but so you can have recommendation Yeah, after eternally grateful, because I know someone I love but they can't take any more clients right now which I respect they're making sure they don't make mistakes, right. So yes, well, I have someone local that I use for my personal taxes and for each of my businesses, my restaurant, but I also have someone separate that is up in Pittsburgh that I use for point northeast Okay. Standing, both are taking new clients. So I can give you that information, we can put it into the show notes as well. But I would say, That's my best recommendation, I think the money spent, you know, whether it's a couple $100 or less, or whatever of like, do the final look. And I also in this just for me, I'm not, I'm not comfortable with myself doing it, and the money spent having someone else do it is worth it for me because again, but if you're if your system is really simple, and you feel comfortable starting it, I'm comfortable with the month to month, I think when it comes to the taxes, that's where I'm like, I don't want to mess up, I don't blame you. I don't, I would say, you know, 100%, that having, you know, doing your urine stuff on your own, I think is, is highly risky and not worth. But I do feel like you have to be on your month to month, maybe having quarterly reviews. And I wouldn't wait till the year end. Because sometimes it's too late, you can't go back in time and capture an opportunity. So having somebody if you're only going to do once a year have been looking in the third quarter to try to direct you where you need to be to make any last minute plans. But I'm a big fan of quarterly reviews. And I'm also a big fan of having my thumb on the pulse of what's going on. Because no one knows better than you do. What's happening on a day to day basis. And so many small business owners think, you know, that's my accountants issue and I don't worry about those. And that's that's such a, it's a recipe for disaster. So I think keep doing your your day to day stuff quarterly, you know, or maybe third quarter review. And 100% how somebody do your urine stuff. I would never touch it. I know I really agree. I think there's just too much risk. And I would hate to see you get tripped up by something. And oh, back or trouble all the time. A your you want to be Oh, rolling with that question. So yeah, and I know how organized you are. So I would imagine like some of these proactive things might even save you time later, like the quarterly review is excellent. And idea. Ironically, I had my Quarterly Review yesterday afternoon with my financial planner who's in Minnesota. I've been using him since I was 22. My CPA who's here locally, and my fractional CFO. And I would say because I have point NE And Treska it does get a little complicated. So they got on the phone with me yesterday and we went through how Are we closing the year? What payroll Am I taking? We have a 401k for Treska. So how is that going to play out? What contributions do I want to make all those sorts of things? And honestly, I end up listening more than talking which is such a relief to me because I don't want to be please tell me what to do? Exactly. I set up my 401k to I think last year, the year before for Polly Dodd, that's my company's name. It was a similar thing. I'm like, I know I need to do this. I would like to tell me what to do. Exactly. I don't know, you know? Yeah. Well, just one other thing that you didn't bring up, which I think is really, really important. So many small business owners are of the opinion that at the end of my career, I'm going to sell my business and right off to the sunset. And you really need to have a 401 K plan or a retirement plan. Because when you get to the end people are not considering their tax base is what's your cost basis in the business? And what if I sell it for a million dollars? What do you mean I'm gonna pay half million dollars in taxes or, or it's not worth a million dollars, it's worth a fraction about because things have changed. So really having your your 401 K plan set up in your retirement plan. So important. The other side of that, too, is depending on how you set up your own salary, what you paid into this, like Social Security. Exactly. You know, if you're, if you're thinking I'll sell and I'll have all this, but I mean, who knows what Social Security will be like when we retire anyway. But yeah, things that people take for granted that as a small business owner, it's not quite the same as like a regular employee of another business. Yeah. And you know, just general numbers, it's which is, you know, as you get to retirement age, and people start telling you for every million dollars, you've, you've saved it's$40,000 a year and an income and it's like, wow, that's, you know, if you start doing the math, you need lots of lots of multiples to be able to support your lifestyle. So it it's a bit of a wake up call, and especially when you're comparing to some of the pension plans and things are out there. And generally speaking, self employed people have a higher lifestyle as they're going through. And then if they get to the end of the road, it's like maybe not not so great. So we want to make sure we're planning ahead. Yeah, you know, on that note, I don't know if you have a financial planner. Okay, you do Okay, good. One of the things that my financial planner was very careful on is you know, you know, my husband is a teacher and teachers get paid pennies for what they're worth it's really a shame but, um, you know, protecting myself because I am the kind of the primary salary earner in our family so Disability, long term disability, key man insurance. I mean, there are a lot of things as a as a solo practitioner or a small business owner that you have to make sure you're protecting your family. So hopefully you're the life insurance reevaluating that I mean, if you if you start off and you're not the breadwinner because you're a start up, but then eventually that becomes a bigger part or the biggest part of your family's income. revisit that? Right? Yeah, right. That's really good. So I think maybe we can even put a little bit of just kind of in the notes from today, financial planner being really important, I'm so glad you have that. I have a good CPA to recommend to you. And in fact, I've two. And then there is a woman on our team that does a lot of kind of fractional CFO work. She is my fractional CFO. But she works with a lot of our clients that point northeast as well, and can help people set up the QuickBooks the accounting. She just had me set up a separate credit card, which I was like, Oh my gosh, that's brilliant, because it's tied to QuickBooks. And every expense I make now just automatically feeds into there. It eliminates the need for me to do an expense report, which I was like fro, anyway. Yeah, so that's great. Yep. Simple. Okay, so um, did we answer your first question? Yes. I think that's exactly right. And it's nice to like, have that set back to me of help, you know, even when, even when, but yes, I like to be in there monthly, but having somebody just look over and make sure that knows what they're doing. Because even if I'm right, I'm not going to know that I'm right. You know what I mean? I have enough knowledge to feel confident. Yeah. And I would love the recommendation to go. Yeah, and you're so detail oriented. I know you, you know, so well. But I would say think of yourself as a team with them to like, they may not catch something and you may catch it like, which was the last one. Yeah. They're lucky that they have you in your life that way, but also, like they should be catching three times the amount of mistakes that you've made. I mean, it's just like, that's what they do. So I would say, but yeah, I mean, if the mental load to of thinking, Oh, even though I paying the service, I'm responsible for making sure it's right. And they're not. And they should be, that is worth a lot. Yes. So I would like to have my mental load lessened. I think it's really important. Yes. Okay. The point that you brought up was about the cost of things going up and margin compressions, you know, when you're when you're categorizing, and I think people tend to, in my experience, people tend to really, you know, pendulum swing too far, or not far enough in breaking down your expenses. If it's so granular, that you can't see a pattern or the big picture, it's a problem. And if it's not granular enough, it's a problem, you really need to be able to find the balance and categorizing your expenses and putting them together. So you know, and you can make decisions on Is there an opportunity here for me to find a savings to pick up some margin, things like that? I mean, it sounds like you're, you're looking at it with a fine tooth comb, I would say, when when you were saying that, Mike, it reminds me of the restaurant, of course, because we have all of these vendors. So every month, when we look through the p&l, it's you know, our expenses for getting the the towels in, so they dry clean them, they bring them back completely sanitized, and then we use them, you know, and then we put them in the dirty hamper, and et cetera. But those guys, like if you're not watching, it goes from like, you know, 120 to like, 300. It's like, wait a minute, sometimes they count on that. Totally. So I do think like really being, you know, kind of aware and watching it is important. And then I would say, you know, it might not be a bad idea to have someone and maybe it's you know, someone you trust, like a coach of an outside person that's like looking at it and thinking or knowing your industry to say, you know, gosh, it seems like you should not have that expense, it seems like or you're you should be writing off part of your internet, or you should be exactly, you know, taking a deduction or something like, there could be some new, those are the little things. Yeah, I mean, that's something again, because like you said, I'm just curious, personally, I want to go over research everything. I was doing all those things, right. But it's nice to have someone say, are you doing this? Yes. And then you start to calm down, like, Okay, I'm doing a good job. Or if you didn't, it's nice thing to know. But yeah, I think the other side of it, too, is, as all these we're all businesses, right. And we use businesses to help us run our businesses. And so we all know, we're in the same boat of the inflation and all these things. So for me, you know, like you said, I work with a lot of big brands, and I knew they all had their, their they publicly announced when they're raising their rates and things like that. So, um, you know, I never really increased what I charge for what I do, I didn't really need to it was okay. And actually, when I work with small businesses, I reduced it a little bit to say I think we're all in hard times, like, I'm not going to raise it, I'm going to reduce it a little bit. And that was interesting, because for me, it was just there's only a handful of them that are really small. Yeah. And it was there were so appreciative. And now that's a relationship that's gonna be there forever, you know, so it was already a good one. But that's something to think about too, I think. And just remembering that we really are all in similar ways. Sometimes, though, I'm not sure that a price increase isn't a bad idea for you. I mean, I would say, you know, again, I'm relating to some of the work we do with our clients, and then again, to the restaurant of like, if we have increases because of inflation, we have to teach you how to and I think for me, it was like, but my expenses, I don't have all the vendors that you have, where my expenses were going crazy. My household expenses were Yeah. But I didn't again, my only cost that was regular was this accounting service. And they hadn't raised their price on me until now. But I do it's the other thing is I knew is probably due for an increase in some of my clients are really great. And they just increasingly adding that to ask, but that leads us back to that AI thing show that generative ai ai is a thing and people have to realize maybe it's not as great as they think it will be. The value of writing services is like a question. Okay. Okay, you know, so I want to go back to the price increase for just a second. Okay, I would say, if you're looking at the products that you're servicing, make sure that you are pricing according to the value of what you're delivering. Yeah. Because if it's a, again, like, you may not see this, or you may be too close to it. I don't know this, but like a 50 word, social media post has the same if not more value than a 500 word essay that you might be doing for a blog for someone's website or whatever, like, remember that the value is what you need, not necessarily the time. That's right. But the value. That's right, yes. And so I'm wondering if that will help you increase your margins a bit to cover. Because remember, to your first point, your work life balance is the reason why you've made decisions to do the things you're doing. We don't want you working more hours, because your home life has increased. I mean, your value has also increased at the same rate, or if not more, because you continue to build experience. And you know, I mean, I'm thinking of myself, like confidence in what you're doing your ability to serve people only gets better and better. So your value is only getting increased. And so again, I would look at it as I know that you don't have avocado vendors. But if your life expenses are increasing, I don't want you working more to cover that for that. I want you charging more. Yeah, that's what I Yeah, time is your most valuable asset, right? We can't We can't buy any more of it. And we can only spend it. So I also think you know, your your company's health is important to the other companies that you support. So if you put your company at risk, where you decide I'm not going to do this anymore, now you're just No, you're not providing services very valuable to your to your clients. So it's important, you know, put your mask on first scenario. It's a great point. Yeah, it is. Okay, so now to AI. Yeah. You know, when you were first talking, I was thinking like, what are the uses of AI? And how are they impacting? So maybe talk a little bit about that, just so I can frame my thoughts? Yes. Articles. What What, are people using this generative AI? Is it like channeling Beauty by TPT? That's like the first example everybody thinks of GPT. There are other ones. And there's like a newer, more expensive version of tattoo you can do so and you know, it's not going to end. Right. So the uses of it, I think, you know, lots of some, some of it is just somebody saying, Oh, I'm horrible at writing an email about whatever price increases, and I want chat GPT to just give me a spark of an idea of what I could say. Or even like amending a contract, which again, like that really affects the legal industry. They're very concerned about this, because, and a lot of it goes into how this AI is, what is it trained on? So training AI is the models of data, right? And I'm not an expert. So if you ever get really interested, please go read about it. But it's the the training for AI is the data that goes into it, what it learns from Okay, so something like, oh, open AI is chat GPT it's trained on the internet. I mean, like to keep it very simple. The creators are saying, you know, it's hard to you have to be concerned about AI being bias. So how are you how you're training it, you have to make sure that the data you train it on doesn't have inherent unrecognizable bias that the creators have without without not knowing that they do. So there have been issues in the past where AI programs are revealed to be bias against women or against people of color, especially when it comes to like applicant tracking systems and resume screening and writing job descriptions, things that will turn off women versus men or things like that interesting. Yes. Okay. So that's bias has always been an issue with AI. Okay, so So sometimes they'll say, well, the more data we can pump it in, because especially with the internet, there's so much scuze me crap. I know, it's a really bad word on the internet, and so they're thinking, well, let's just give it the whole internet. So it's gonna get all the good stuff, too. Yep. Okay, but it's still getting all the crap, right. And eventually, if there's more and more and more AI generated content on the internet, it's training itself. And the scary thing is, you can't fact check it the same way you can an article written by someone like me, where I say, here are all my sources, I make sure to choose only credible sources, I can link back to all of them. If you if you write something on AI, and it's something I think small business owners who use it, say I'm going to use it to write an article about whatever it is, yeah. If they're not heavily editing it themselves, which takes time, then they run the risk of having something untrue, something bias that they're publishing, and they can't go it would take them a lot of times, they only go make sure all of this is right. At that point, you might as well write the article yourself. But I think people don't, they just are excited about it. And it's especially being used a lot for email marketing copy. So headline, yeah, write a catchy social media post for me. So again, it sounds promising in terms of time return, and cost reduction. But if you're going to do it, safely, does it? Yeah. Well, I mean, my very first initial reaction is just that. I mean, I pride myself on authenticity. And I would say like, my businesses are as authentic as they come, like, I'll tell anyone, anything like I have no vulnerability. I mean, I have nothing that I'm not willing to. Wait, I said, that's the moron vulnerability. But No, but seriously, I really believe in authenticity. And I think the artistry of things is important to me. Now, on the other hand, you know, I have seen some incredible uses of AI, like, in the battle against against cancer and the amount of things that so I know that there's a balancing act, that I want to give our creativity and strategy and critical thinking skills, we don't want to let them atrophy because we're relying too heavily on AI. And I think the other thing as a writer is some some writers are saying, and I've seen this on a lot of freelance writing blogs, where they say, it's going to be a tool that helps you increase your output because I could go say, hey, Chad, cheep, cheep GPT, please write an article for me on this. I want it to be around 1000 words, and write it so that an eighth grader could understand it, because a lot of web content is done that way. And I can go edit it, but again, can I fact check it? Yeah, I mean, yes or no. Wow. The other thing, though, is, so some writers are saying, You know what, this used to take me three hours now I can do it in 45 minutes now edit it, I'll make it really good. But eventually that's devaluing your work. Right? And, and more and more people are capable of doing that. Yeah. And so if that's going to flood the market with freelance writers who are really AI tool users, editors, yes. And then the value of our work as a, as a group of professionals will go down. Right. Okay, so you are attracting clients that are big brands and people that are having content out there. Yeah. And they are attracting consumers or clients or whatever. So there's almost a couple of layers here. But I was kind of thinking like, as you market yourself, would you ever use a slogan of like, I will never use? I would? I don't know that, that that's not a popular sentiment right. Now. It's not there are some writers who will say that, or they'll say, you know, make sure your whole website, isn't it? Chat GPT. And everyone can tell, all right, it and your brand voice, but they're not saying I won't use the tools. To me, I'm like, I won't use the tools. My clients have asked me and I'm saying no. Right. Because again, for me, I don't want to lose that skill, that muscle Yeah, of creativity. And again, critical thinking. But yes, I would, I think a lot of people right now are saying, Oh, you're kind of backward, and that's not going to age well, because AI is the future. And you should really be embracing AI and learning to use the tool. And, you know, so I think in general, and I don't know how long that'll last. We don't know how it's gonna play out. I would kind of hope that the excitement dies down. And we all know how to use it wisely. And people say, oh, you know what, it does take me a lot of time to edit AI content. I'd love to work with a great writer who can just do it and I trust them. So I have I have a couple of a couple of points. So one, I think you know, it's it's great to be focused on you know, disruptive technologies that are coming to your industry. I was in the chauffeured transportation business. Uber was a disruptive model to us. GPS right for shippers that, you know, used to know how the interstate system worked. And now just type in an address and off we go. So what I think is, is it you know, higher value, it's kind of like what did the small retailer do, when Home Depot came to town or any any of those sort of scenarios, you know, Ace Hardware probably pivoted the best out of everyone you go, you know, they're, they're specialized, and you just kind of keep moving your value up. So I know, with our company with the transmission business, when Uber became popular companies, like, you know, fortune 500, companies are not inclined to use and untested tools and things you're talking about fact checking, and all these tools are going to be more important. So maybe your mom and pop business is not going to be as concerned they will use AI and, and companies like Google can tell you whether this was written by human or not, right? So they're devaluing those, you know, those posts. So it's really just elevating your business to be able to, you know, find that the people that are going to line up with the value and sounds like you're already working with those great companies. But if it were me, I would just refine my effort on making sure that I'm really going into those avenues. And look, the mom and con, you know, the landscape company, they're probably going to start using an AI tool to write it, because it's just not that important to them. It's kind of like, people using their website, they're not gonna hire a developer. Right? Yeah. Right. They're gonna do their own thing. So So I think you just need to move, you know, continue to focus on that higher level and, and refine where you're going. But I think it's great to be plugged in, especially at the level you're already operating. Yeah. And I was thinking, like, you know, you talked a little bit about some of the reasons to not use an AI like a generative AI. And I think those are the things I would really double down on you. Because if AI grows, those are the things that people are going to be now focused on. So here with my thought, if fact checking, is the thing that is missing with chat GPT written articles, is it possible that you could supplement your writing with like a fact checking department, I'm not suggesting it to you, but it would be like, Hey, if you're using chat GPT, you're going to need to do the fact checking because it's not doing that. So now I have a department of fact checker. I think that's like a line of business for some people is that fact checkers, it'll be the brand voice technicians who go in so, yes. And like, I think for me, it would be like, Okay, I'm gonna hire a subcontractor to do this for me, because to me, that's not interesting and fun. Yeah, it's important, right? But it's, it can be done by a lower level. Like, it's not really, if somebody hired me to do that, and people have, I really want you to do all this. Copy for me. Okay. But for what you pay me, you can do it if you want to, but you could find someone who will do a decent job for way less than what I will charge you. Right. And sometimes they're still like, that's okay. It's just easy, you know, whatever. So but that, yes, and that'd be something where if I'm having a subcontractor do it, right, like, okay, then that and then I pay that person what that's worth. But that way, too, you're not alienating potential clients, or? Yeah, I think we're value is perception, right? So someone you can't you can't stay is different people value things individually. So I may find a greater value in having you write my articles, because that's important to me important to my brand, versus someone else is going to not find that value, and they're going to use so I think that's where the you know, it's kind of like saying, find the right types of clients for you. Right, like, Fine, not only the people that care about it for like the risk averseness of having AI content, but also people who just have aligned values of we care about humanity's creativity keeping it with humans. I mean, I, I kind of think of like some examples that are similar with like, Patagonia. I'm not talking their writing, I'm talking their material, right, like, are where are there places where people are not cutting corners? Yes, because it's the right thing to do. And I kind of feel like maybe in those examples, maybe there are some good practices that you could employ, like, you know, I think about like, I mean, coffee beans, right. Like you could go out and source crappy coffee bean coffee beans from people who are using labor forces that are not paid well or are children labor. I mean, I don't know Fairtrade. And they make sure Yep. And then you have the people who are doing it right. And so then I'm thinking like, how do you go and look at the farmers in Colombia or wherever they're sourcing their coffee, coffee beans that are doing it right. And what are they doing to showcase we're doing it right we're doing it the artisans way. We're charging more because we're doing it the right way. People are happy to the people, the types of customers they are after are happy to pay that. Exactly. Yeah, yeah. So I'm just Thinking of like, the companies that like, I think every industry has that, in fact, I think the restaurant industry is fraught with a lot of people who don't do it the right way. And yeah, um, yeah. And I was thinking too, you know, there may be at some point, the types of organizations that crop up that are evaluating content, and I'm thinking fact checking, or just like, you know, the the newspaper industry or whatever it may be newspaper was in a good, a good example, like the news industry. Yeah. Where they are actually developing the types of people that can come in and comment on Yeah, and I was wondering that because the news industry is considering AI written. Yeah, we're just terrifying. And I was wondering if like you could be and that for them like that could be another source of revenue as true to be an expert on the value of non generative AI writing? Or the expert on why the artistry is so important. Yeah. You know, I had heard and I don't know if this is true, there was a rumor that I think my children told me, but again, don't know if it's true. That young gentleman college student at maybe Princeton was given like, a pretty big grant or scholarship or something, because he developed a product that could tell whether it was written by ai ai, well, really the best tool to see if it's AI is AI, no AI tools that will they're more accurate, you know, so there's online reviews. Okay. So generative AI is terrifying for people who need to use online reviews for things. I mean, it might might be great for businesses that already buy fake reviews from like, the content mills and other countries, and they just write a bunch of fake reviews. But now AI is making it easier. And so now there's another AI products that we can detect AI generated content, and we're 3,000% more accurate than human readers and who we asked like, read these 10 reviews and tell me which ones are. That's amazing. Yeah. Okay. So I mean, really, are we going into a future like the Wally blob people? Well, and is there going to be almost like, I'm thinking of like, the Better Business Bureau? You know, that's like, oh, this business is doing it great. And not so evaluating. Like, yes, I see what you're, I think I see what you're saying. Well, yeah, I was just wondering if there would be like, almost like a certification totally, or a badge? Yes. Yeah. I like I like your point about, like, the premium brands and the ones that are doing right. And I think it really boils down to that as if you're, you know, we're evolving. And I think as small business owners, we always need to evolve. And we always need to, you know, reevaluate what we're doing, and what's our product and what's, what's the future going to hold. But, you know, the current climate will certainly pay more for perceived value when you line up your core values, and all of those things, and, you know, certainly refer to following that path, I think is going to be the best. Me too. And I wouldn't be shy about it. In all honesty, and I'm glad to hear that from both of you. Because that's the way I would like, morally and just in my core want to do it. Yes. And like, I've talked with my husband about this, who runs a medium business, he's like, you know, you're just gonna think you're gonna have to get ahead of it. And he's, and I'm just like, I can't do it. I'll just fold but to your point, then then the person who does do that is gone. And isn't available. So and and not that I want to just give up and then I'm just like, I, it's not in me, I don't agree with it. Yeah, I do. I think you're bad if you use it. No, I think there are some good uses for people who use it for like brainstorming or something, or they're not great writers, and they just want to turn to a phrase that helps them when they're writing their emails to someone. I mean, I think it's a nice tool. I also think, you know, the more we all use it, the more impressive and better it gets at everything that it's doing. So to me, I'm just not going to use it. Yeah. But well, I think again, I would lean into that as part of your brand, in my opinion. I mean, I would say, you know, I'm, again, thinking of other industries that have done this, and there's like, you know, like Sargento cheese Sargento cheese is very, very overt about the fact that they are real cheese from Wisconsin, and they talk about the farms, that the dairy unashamedly who you are, like, we're little, and we're happy to be little or whatever. fact I think I have a book up here somewhere. That's called Small Giants. And it's yeah, it's about small businesses that were fine being small because they wanted to be the artisans of their and that's why they lasted totally, because they stay true to their mission. Their vision. Yeah. And didn't Yeah, here and I think that's one thing too, again. So it's interesting, what you just said made me think you're kind of saying the same thing as my husband, but with a different twist. So he's saying get ahead of it, start to learn the tool, start to use it and you're saying get ahead of being of people. On the other side, we're like, actually, I don't want someone who does that. Well. I And maybe it'll take a little more time because people will have to feel the some of the negative effects. Yeah, when use these, you know what, that's a really good point. And so and this person was never using it all along. She knew and we're gonna go, because she doesn't do it well, and I can see the spark in your eye to truly like when when you lean into the like, No, I'm not doing it because I don't believe this is the right move. And I want to be an artist and of my craft. Like I think, again, we talked about mental load. Yes. Like, I think I can see you light up and I think that's worse. Yeah. And if I was being an editor, it would be like, here we go again. It wouldn't be fun. I wouldn't have that. So I know. What do you think? In quality, it's quality over quantity. Okay, so number one. I'm gonna get you the names of some PPAs. Yeah. Number two, think about your branding and coming forth with like this, like open, not afraid. Stamp of Anshar like this is a real person. Yeah, I think you're you're so authentic. I think it'll be so natural for you. And I think it'll make you feel good. Yeah, just great. Well, did we solve your two problems? Yes. I mean, it's also sometimes it's like, a lot of people know how they feel. But they need to be told it's okay to feel that way. Go. You know, so that's really, again, I think for me a lot of times, it's like, I think I think I know, but that's not that. There's not that confidence or peace of mind. And it's just helpful. And the idea of putting in that part of the brand. Yeah. So and I just will love having another like CPA in my pocket. Absolutely. to In fact, yeah, yeah, I've got two good CPAs that I know, will help you. So. I mean, thank you again, as we move to close, I mean, really, really, I think my number one moment of gratitude is Thank you for trusting us with like, kind of your you know, what's keeping me up at night moments. Like, that's really, I'm honored. And it was a lot of fun. So hey, man, you look like you. Already me and then I want to know how it went for you, Mike. Not knowing what I was going to do is is a complete surprise. No, it's exciting. It is. And even though I didn't agree on the front end, I do agree now. So. I mean, I'd stop and he'll be like, Let's never do that again. You want a good sport? You really were and I thought, I thought we really made some good magic in this hour. So our ish but thank you truly. Thanks for coming. By. I know we live near each other. But still, thank you for taking time out of your day to do this. And I did. Alright, I see you in person. I always love seeing you. Well, Mike. So nice meeting you. Nice to meet you too. Mike, thank you so much for now you got a writer too, for some of your big businesses that you help. Oh, absolutely. Yeah. All right. Well, thank you, both of you, and have a great rest of your afternoon. If anybody else out there is listening and watching and wants to be a part of this for their free business guidance podcast with us the free hour. Please pass it on because we'd love to have anyone from any industry with any challenge. So. Okay. You're still on Mike. Nice to see you, sir. Hi. Thank you again. Thank you. Thanks so much for tuning into this episode of level up your business with me, Sarah Frasca. If you have a problem in your business that's keeping you up at night. Please join us in a future episode so we can help get you unstuck. Just clicking the link in the show notes and send us a message. Please remember, stay innovative friends.