Small business: five ways to use AI at no cost
You do not need to change your business. Start with one task that tires you out every week.
AI will not sell your goods for you. But it can cut the hours you lose on work that does not pay. Here are five that work today, on a free tier.
1. Product descriptions. Photograph your product, or write three words about it, then ask: "Write a short WhatsApp Status description for this product, in Kiswahili, three lines." You get five versions in seconds.
2. Answering customers. Collect the questions that repeat — price, delivery, opening hours — and ask for short answers you can paste. Save them on your phone.
3. Quick calculations. "I bought at 12,000 and want a 30 percent margin, what is my selling price?" Then check it yourself on a calculator. AI sometimes gets arithmetic wrong.
4. Letters and applications. A loan request, an application for market space, a reply to a complaint. Tell it: "Write politely, ten lines, official Kiswahili."
5. Planning the week. List all your tasks, then: "Lay these out by day, hard work in the mornings."
Without being fooled
- Do not trust figures or prices the AI gives you. Verify them.
- Do not enter your customers' phone numbers. That is their privacy.
- Do not buy a monthly subscription until you have found one task it saves you time on every week.
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