Many one-person business owners know that change brings opportunity, but with technology like AI already disrupting many industries, it can be stressful to consider questions like “Will AI eliminate the need for my business?”
As the World Economic Forum (WEF) pointed out in its recently released Future of Work Report, 40% of companies plan workforce reductions due to AI automation. The fastest growing jobs will be big data specialists, fintech engineers and AI and machine learning specialists. However, some small business-friendly careers such as accounting and graphic design will be in decline, according to WEF data.
To understand how one-person business owners can position themselves for success as businesses adopt AI in greater numbers, I recently spoke with Tracy Heatley, founder of UK-based strategy, marketing and networking firm Better Marketing with Tracy Heatley and podcast. Get better with Tracy Heatley.
Concluding that AI is here to stay, Tracey Heately became a certified AI marketer.
Enthusiastically acknowledging that AI is here to stay, she became one of the first 150 marketers to become certified in AI marketing through the Chartered Institute of Marketing in the UK, passing the required exam. The AI program covers how to use specific tools, data analysis, social media monitoring, marketing automation, voice and visual search optimization, customer experience and ethics. “Anyone who’s sitting on the fence about AI should embrace it,” she says.
While AI can be a game-changer in saving time, it’s not a panacea, according to Heatley. “Studying AI, I really believe that as it advances, it should only be used to assist, not replace,” Heatley says. “I don’t think it should be supported 100 percent. You still have to be an expert in your field and know whether it’s right or wrong.”
Here’s her advice for one-person business owners who want to make sure their businesses stay relevant.
Don’t panic. Many people think that AI tools like chatGPT or Gemini will be difficult to use – until they try it. “Basically, it’s software,” Heatley says. “It’s a code that’s been around for a long time. There are platforms that we used to refer to as software – now they are ‘AI’.
Treat future changes as an opportunity. Pay attention to the skills that will be needed in the future and look for ways to master them—even if it’s just one critical skill—and help your customers use them. Heatley realized after getting her AI marketing certification that her clients could benefit from what she was learning. So she expanded her strategy cycle program, in which her students create their own marketing strategies, from six weeks to seven to incorporate some of what she was learning about AI. “By the time they use AI, they’ll know what to look for in it and how to use it properly,” she says.
Understand the value of your expertise. No matter what AI tools you use, clients are paying you for your knowledge and judgment, not just for the task you can perform or the project you deliver. “Anyone who provides a service needs to market the value and impact it has on the customer,” she says.
After all, what you’re selling is knowledge, she notes. “It’s the time and the experience that people pay for.”
Think about what you want to get from AI. AI can be a powerful research tool. “You can put in the AI, ‘Give me a marketing plan for this type of business,'” she says. “That’s not to say it’s going to give me what I would do or what another marketing consultant would do, but it will give you the basics. You must specify the parts in between.”
Adjust your requirements correctly. It’s important to take the time to put useful inputs into AI tools, or you won’t get the results you want, she notes. “It’s that old thing about data—garbage in, garbage out,” she says. “If you don’t know what to ask for in the first place, you won’t get what you want.”
Help AI develop. “It’s learning all the time,” Heatley says. “So one of the things I’m doing is training people to train their AI because it’s going to do what you want it to do.” It’s similar to training a dog, she says. “You have to tell him specifically what you want to do and give him feedback.”
Know when to keep mum. Be careful what you feed into AI. “What you decide, she knows,” says Heatley. “So be careful about the specifics of what you put in. Do you want him to know the intricacies of your business, or would you rather keep it to yourself? If you put it in, it might take him elsewhere.”
Ultimately, AI can be a useful tool for many small businesses – but you need to learn how to make it work for you.
