October 2026
Can an AI receptionist answer your business phone?
What AI receptionists cost, what they handle well, where they fail, and how to test one on overflow calls before you commit.
THE FIELD NOTES
Practical answers.
A place to start.
Read about AI tools, everyday business tasks, and the questions to ask before sharing company data.
October 2026
How to write an AI clause for client contracts
What to put in an AI clause for client contracts: subprocessors, data limits, disclosure, and an opt out you can actually honor.
October 2026
Why most AI rollouts fizzle by week six, and the one fix
Most small business AI rollouts stall around week six. Why handing out licenses fails, and how to tie one recurring task to one owner and one number.
September 2026
AI for restaurants and retail: scheduling, reviews and inventory that work today
What AI does today for restaurants and shops: schedule forecasting, review replies, invoice capture, rough costs, and the three things to skip for now.
September 2026
The AI readiness assessment explained: what we look at and what you get
The ten questions behind our AI readiness check, what each one predicts, what the score means, and what you get back in three minutes.
September 2026
Automating the inbox: what an AI email assistant can and cannot do
What AI email assistants actually do well, what they must never be trusted with, real prices, and how to trial one on a single shared mailbox.
September 2026
AI meeting notes for small teams: consent, tools, and the one setting to change
Which meeting note tools cost what, how recording consent works in the US, and the auto join setting to turn off before a bot shows up on a client call.
September 2026
Staff pasted client data into a chatbot. Here is the response plan.
A six step plan for when an employee pastes client data into ChatGPT or another chatbot: what to delete, who to tell, and how to stop a repeat.
September 2026
Microsoft Copilot or ChatGPT for a small business: which one, and when neither
What Copilot and ChatGPT each do well, the real per seat cost once licenses are counted, and when a small business needs neither of them.
September 2026
How to run a 30 day AI pilot in a small business
A four week AI pilot you can actually judge: one workflow, three to five people, a baseline week, real costs, and the four numbers that decide it.
September 2026
AI for medical and dental offices: what HIPAA actually allows
HIPAA does not ban AI in a practice. It requires a signed BAA, minimum necessary prompts, and consent to record. What that means in practice.
September 2026
AI for property managers: tenant emails, maintenance triage, lease summaries
Where AI actually helps a small property management office, what it costs per month, and the decisions to keep away from it.
September 2026
AI for law firms and accountants: what you can use without breaching client confidentiality
What law and accounting firms can safely run AI on, the account settings that make it defensible, and the work to keep out of a chatbot entirely.
September 2026
What AI actually costs a small business per month
Real monthly prices for the AI tools small businesses actually use, which tier matters, and the three costs that never appear on the pricing page.
September 2026
AI for contractors and trades: the three jobs worth automating first
Quotes, follow-ups, and paperwork. The three places AI reliably saves a contractor or trades business hours every week, what it costs, and what to leave alone.
August 2026
What AI can actually do for a small business right now
Five jobs AI does reliably for small businesses today, what each costs per month, and the two things it still gets wrong. No hype, just what works.
August 2026
Five questions to answer before you buy any AI tool
Most AI subscriptions get cancelled within six months. These five questions sort the tools that stick from the ones that do not.
August 2026
Your staff are already using AI. Here is the policy you need.
Banning chatbots does not work. A short, enforceable AI usage policy does. What to put in it, what to leave out, and why one page beats twelve.