How to adopt AI tools in your business without wasting hours of your time

AI is saving businesses hundreds of hours each week. You’ve heard output is up and staffing costs are down. But where do you start? You want to get involved but you’re not technical and you don’t have the budget to hire an AI consultant or a full-time developer right now. You need simplicity. You need AI tools that are ready to use out of the box.

So you head to Google or ChatGPT and ask for recommendations. You see a list of tools, all claiming to do more-or-less the same thing. Now what? Time to start some trials. Take the most compelling for a spin. But it could be a trap.

The AI tool trap

As a business owner, you’re a person of action. You can see the future and you want to create it now. You know AI holds the key, so you sign up, try the free versions, and book the demo calls. But it’s just not that easy. You realise these tools take time to learn – even longer for them to actually replace processes or enhance your business.

It’s easy to lose motivation or waste hours and hours trying to figure them out. Maybe AI isn’t all it’s hyped up to be. But that’s just not true. Enough businesses have done it. What you need is a process for identifying, assessing and ultimately trialling AI tools. Later in this article, we’re going to share six steps for entrepreneurs to use AI tools in their business without wasting days and weeks integrating them. 

Why are there so many bad AI tools out there?

When ChatGPT launched in November 2022, AI hit the mainstream. The hype of this ingenious new tool created a wave of AI-powered projects, each promising to revolutionise your life or your business.

AI became hot property and quickly captured the attention of tech investors looking to cash in on the inevitable rising tide. This meant AI projects across the globe were able to raise capital, develop quickly, and market themselves to their audience. The land grab became a cash grab.

Inevitably, many of these tools were sub-par. They were poorly thought through. They had underdeveloped infrastructure. They were also susceptible to being surpassed by the base capabilities of the platforms they were built on. Each new ChatGPT release rendered many projects worthless.

AI startups had to pivot multiple times. Some ran out of money. Projects were put on ice and never developed beyond their 2022 capabilities. How can you be sure you’re not about to spend two weeks figuring out a defunct tool? Even if the company is still active, there’s a widening gap between the good and the bad.

Why this is a risk to business owners

To the busy entrepreneur or CEO, it’s almost impossible to work out how useful an AI tool is. With a flashy website, cherry picked reviews and a compelling video demonstration, it’s easy to sign up and start working out how to integrate the technology into your workstream.

6 top tips to get the most from AI tools in your business

Read AI tool reviews

If you’re dead set on using AI in your business, do your research before you commit. Find reviews of AI tools on your shortlist. Do they deliver on their promises for real users? Are they using the latest technologies? How do they stack up against similar tools and are they value for money? A few minutes spent on this step will save you hours of trial and error in the future.

Check alternatives

Don’t just research one tool. There are usually many tools offering the same or similar functionalities, some of which may suit your needs much better. Why pay for a feature you won’t use? Why use two tools when one may have all you need? Search for alternatives and even test multiple out. This is the only real way you can identify the tool that’s right for your use case.

Do a needs analysis

In an ideal world, before you even choose a tool to work with, you do a needs analysis within your business. Without thinking about the scope of AI – its opportunities, its limitations, its cost – break down your business’s processes. Find weak spots and bottlenecks. If you could wave a magic wand and solve one problem with AI, what would it be? Getting some focus on the needs of your business can reduce the time spent on AI tools that won’t meaningfully help.

Start with what you can automate

Now you have your most fundamental needs identified, begin to make it a reality. What can AI actually do for you? Search for tools that can automate or accelerate some or all of a key process. This is where you may need to familiarise yourself with technological capabilities. How do these tools actually work? Can they integrate with those you’re already using? You need to find a tool that won’t drain more resources than they save.

Identify what will make the biggest difference

Implementing too many tools at once is a mistake. Each tool has a learning curve. You may find yourself spread too thinly, giving up too soon with some, persisting too long with others. Create a priority list based on a combination of ease of implementation and the time or efficiency savings this tool will make. Remember tools need managing and integrating into other processes – it doesn’t happen in a vacuum.

Tackle issues at the root cause

Before you invest your time and money, there’s one final assessment to make. Are you addressing a problem at its root cause or fixing a symptom of a deeper problem? If you can go upstream and find the original source of a problem in your business, you may be able to identify an AI tool that can solve many issues. You may already know what these issues are, but haven’t been able to find a solution. AI might have changed all that.

Final words

AI can be frustrating. There is so much promise and potential, but making it a reality isn’t always simple. Follow the six steps above to ensure you’re spending your time wisely, avoiding the rubbish and actually making AI work for your business.

This is the moment where smart choices will set you apart from your competitors. Analyse your business, prioritise your needs and identify your shortlist of tools. Do your research and commit to testing one or two tools at first, working until you know which will serve you in the long term. Good luck!