Field Notes
Notes to our future selves, shared with everyone else.
Things we’ve learned building AI automation for small businesses, written down so we don’t have to learn them twice. What paid off, what didn’t, and what we’d do differently next time, with the numbers left in.
12 October 2026If one person can clone Photoshop, you can build the tool you actually needA single developer used AI to rebuild seven Adobe apps in about a week. What that says about the cost of software, what's legal, and what it means for a small business paying for subscriptions.5 min read29 August 2026The AI implementation lifecycle: why most organisations get stuckSmall businesses plateau at email drafting, large ones bottleneck on tech-team bandwidth: the pattern behind stalled AI adoption, and where the value actually shows up.4 min read10 July 2026What are AI tokens? A plain-English guide to how AI pricing worksA plain-English explanation of AI tokens, how they set the price of AI tools, and a worked example of what daily use actually costs.3 min read9 July 2026Red flags when hiring an AI consultantSeven warning signs to watch for when hiring an AI consultant, what each looks like in a sales conversation, and the question that exposes it.4 min read8 July 2026What an AI audit actually involves (ours, anyway).A plain walkthrough of what a fixed-fee AI audit for a small business actually involves, day by day, and what you get at the end.3 min read7 July 2026How AI can automate your business reporting (a field report).A real, plain-language field report on automating monthly business reporting with AI: what got built, what stayed manual, and why.3 min read6 July 2026Is this task worth automating? A five-question test.A five-question framework for deciding whether a business task is worth automating with AI, before you spend a cent on it.5 min read