For small business owners · A hands-on 90-minute workshop
Practical AI for Small Business.
A hands-on 90-minute workshop. Use AI to improve the process around your work. Not to replace your judgment.
Facilitated by Daniel Umana·dumana.tech
The Main Rule
Do not use AI to replace your judgment. Use AI to improve the process around your work.
Use AI for
- Drafting emails and replies
- Writing product descriptions
- Planning social posts
- Summarizing notes and reviews
- Comparing options
- Researching questions
- Brainstorming ideas
- Turning notes into checklists
Don't use AI as
- The final decision-maker
- A replacement for your expertise
- A place for customer or payment data
- An accuracy guarantee
- Your brand voice without review
Where it saves you time
- Replying to a review or a customer email20 min→3 min
- Writing a product or service description30 min→5 min
- A week of social posts from a few notes1 hour→10 min
- Summarizing a stack of notes or reviews15 min→1 min
- Comparing two options before you decide30 min→5 min
Sources: U.S. Small Business Administration · SCORE · US Chamber of Commerce
Use it safely
Use it safely.
Good to know.
This workshop gives practical, plain-language guidance, not legal, tax, or compliance advice.
You know your business and your obligations best. When something is high-stakes, check with a professional before you act.
Three tabs: why to check the output, what to keep out of AI tools, and the habits that keep you safe. Use the arrow keys to move between them.
Fluent isn't accurate.
AI sounds confident even when it is wrong. It can invent facts, prices, policies, reviews, and sources. Treat every output as a draft to check, not an answer to trust.
- Verify names, numbers, dates, and claims before you act on them.
- If you will publish or sell it, check it for copied or copyrighted material.
- The higher the stakes, the more you slow down and check.
Your voice, your judgment
AI as assistant. Not author.
AI can polish your words. It should not replace your judgment, your expertise, or your voice.
If it sounds like generic AI
You leaned on it too much. Read it again and put your own words and details back in.
If it sounds like your business on a good day
You reviewed it and it carries your voice. Send it.
A prompt cannot make the writing sound like your business. Your review and your edits do that. The prompts below are review moves: they keep you reading the output critically instead of handing the work over.
Three review prompts to keep you in control
Copy one. Use it when you review what AI writes.See every change
Improve only clarity and flow. Keep my main points and my plain wording where it already works. After revising, list exactly what you changed and why, so I can review each edit.
Match my real voice
Here are three short messages I have actually sent to customers. Read them, then write the new message in that same voice. Do not make it sound corporate. [Paste 3 of your real messages, then your request.]
Use it as a thinking partner
I am thinking through a decision for my business. Do not agree with me automatically. First, summarize my idea in your own words. Then tell me what is strong, what is unclear, what I am assuming, what a skeptical customer might ask, and what I should think through next.
The builder
The Five-Part Scaffold.
Five blanks that turn a vague ask into a clear one.
Trash in, trash out
Same tool. The prompt decides what you get back.
write an email about the parking changes
- Dear Team, I hope this message finds you well.
- I am writing to inform you of some important updates regarding parking.
- Please do not hesitate to reach out with any questions. Best regards.
Generic and padded. You still have to rewrite the whole thing.
Worked examples
Real prompts, built out
Real situations, real prompts. Each one is self-contained: copy the full prompt, swap in your details, and paste it into ChatGPT to see the effect. Hover any part to see why it is there.
What they were trying to do
You added a new product and need clear copy for your site or a listing. You want it to sound like your shop, not a spec sheet.
The prompt they built
Hover or tap a colored part to see why it is there.
Each color is one part of the Five-Part Scaffold. Together they turn a vague ask into a prompt that gets something usable. Hover a part to see the thinking behind it.
What it gave back
Copy the whole prompt, swap in your real product, and you get listing copy you can tighten and post.
Your turn
Now build your own
Fill the five blanks. Your prompt assembles live on the right.
Your assembled prompt
Role/Goal: You are a [role]. OR I want to [goal]. Context: [Your business and the situation.] Source: [What the AI should use: paste your notes, details, or text.] Task: [What you want it to do.] Format: [How the output should look.]
Source: Prompt-writing fundamentals, adapted from SBA and SBDC AI workshops.
12 add-ons
12 add-ons that change what you get back.
Bolt these onto the scaffold to change what AI does.
Ask me up to 5 questions before answering.
Use when: The task could go many ways depending on your business.
Do not draft yet. Tell me what is unclear.
Use when: You want a gut-check before it writes.
Give me 3 options with tradeoffs.
Use when: You are making a decision.
Keep my voice. Improve only clarity.
Use when: You are revising your own writing.
Reverse engineer the structure of this example.
Use when: You want a reusable template.
Turn this into a simple checklist.
Use when: You want a step-by-step you can follow.
Challenge my assumptions before improving this.
Use when: You want it pressure-tested.
Label what you know, assume, and need from me.
Use when: You want honesty about confidence.
Use only what I give you. No outside info.
Use when: You want grounded output, no made-up details.
Explain it simply, then give the expert version.
Use when: You want it in plain English first.
Make this shorter without losing the important parts.
Use when: The output is too long.
List possible mistakes or risks before finalizing.
Use when: The stakes are high.
Source: Practical prompt patterns for everyday business tasks.
Your assembled prompt
Role/Goal: You are a [role]. OR I want to [goal]. Context: [Your business and the situation.] Source: [What the AI should use: paste your notes, details, or text.] Task: [What you want it to do.] Format: [How the output should look.]