Notes on AI, automation and running a leaner business.
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The Copy-Paste Tax: How to Calculate the Cost of Manual Data Entry
Manual data entry never sends you an invoice, so nobody counts it. Here's a five-minute formula to put a dollar figure on it and a plan to stop paying it.
7 Mistakes Owners Make with Manual Business Processes (and the Fix)
Most small businesses have good people and a product that works. The process is what breaks. Here are seven mistakes I see with manual processes and how to fix each one.
St. Louis Data Center Boom: What Small Business Owners Should Watch
Google in Montgomery County, TierPoint downtown, a $3 billion campus in Midtown. Here is what the St. Louis data center boom changes for a small business, and what it doesn't.
US vs. China Servers: A Data Sovereignty Guide for Small Business
Your files are not in the cloud. They are on a server in a country with its own laws. Here is a one-page way to find out where your business data actually lives.
SaaS Costs for Small Business: Do You Really Need 10 Subscriptions?
The sticker price is the cheap part of your software. Here is a simple formula for the true cost of each subscription, and how to decide what to keep, connect or cut.
Your Subscription Graveyard: The Funeral Math on Unused Software
Every forgotten subscription still bills you, and disconnected tools cost even more in wasted time. Here's a simple formula and a 45-minute audit to sort it out.
The Hammer Doesn't Make You a Carpenter: AI Tools Need a Strategy
AI app builders made software feel easy. The demo is the easy part. Here's what a real AI software strategy covers before your team depends on that app.
The Blockbuster Moment: Adding AI to Existing Software Isn't Enough
Every app you own just got an AI button, and so did your competitors' apps. The edge isn't the button. It's redesigning the process, starting with the tools you already have.
Outgrown Your Spreadsheets? When to Replace Them with an App
Every small business has one spreadsheet holding the whole operation together. Here's how to tell if it's time to replace it, and the cheaper steps to try first.
How I'd Replace $300/Month of SaaS With a Custom CRM in an Afternoon
A labeled walkthrough, not a case study: how I'd swap five overlapping subscriptions for one custom CRM using n8n, Supabase and Claude, hour by hour.
Custom Software vs Off the Shelf: Which Apps Should You Rebuild?
Almost any app on your desk can be rebuilt now. Most shouldn't be. Here's the test I use to decide what to keep, what to connect, and what to replace.
Build Your Own AI Tools First. Then Call Me.
I tell almost every owner to try building their own AI tool before hiring me. Here's a weekend plan for doing it, and how to tell when a prototype isn't enough.
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