I've been thinking about something all week.
Goldman Sachs released a survey on Monday showing 76% of small businesses are using AI. The headline made it sound like a victory lap. "Small businesses embrace AI!" Great news, right?
Then I read the fine print: 73% of those same businesses say they need more training and support to actually use it well.
So three out of four businesses tried AI. And three out of four don't feel like they know what they're doing.
That's not a success story. That's an adoption story with no support system.
Where is the help?
Not from the tool vendors. They're too busy launching the next subscription tier and running ads about how their product will "transform your business." Then they hand you a login and wish you luck.
Not from the government. Congress just passed a bill to fund small business innovation - which is genuinely good - but the SBA's AI resources page still reads like it was written for a Fortune 500 company. Try explaining "machine learning deployment strategies" to a woman who runs a flower shop.
Not from the media. Most tech coverage treats small businesses as an afterthought. A bullet point in a pitch deck. A market segment, not real people.
Why we started this
I started The Useful Daily because I believe small business owners deserve better information. Not simpler information - better information. There's a difference.
Our readers aren't dumb. They're busy. They built something real with their own hands and their own money. They don't have time to read a 3,000-word whitepaper on "enterprise AI implementation frameworks" to figure out whether they should pay $30 a month for a scheduling tool.
They need someone who speaks their language. Who tests the tools before recommending them. Who says "skip this one" when something is overpriced garbage. Who remembers that $50 a month is real money when you're running a business on thin margins.
The big guys have lobbyists. You have us.
I mean that. There are entire organizations dedicated to making sure big tech companies get favorable policy. Who's making sure the next AI regulation doesn't accidentally crush the small business that just started using ChatGPT for customer emails?
Who's holding AI tool companies accountable when they charge $79 a month for something that barely works? Who's translating the Goldman Sachs survey into "here's what this actually means for your bakery"?
That's what we're trying to do here. Every day. With writers who've actually run businesses, not people who just write about them.
What we covered this week
Our team published pieces on the Goldman Sachs survey, a new AI tools marketplace, federal funding you might qualify for, and a grant program from Lenovo worth applying for. Priya did the math on AI bookkeeping. Terry finally admitted his office manager was right about ChatGPT. Jade shared her exact tool stack for running two businesses solo.
All of it written for you. Not about you.
Have a good week. We'll keep showing up.
- Michael