Turning AI Into Your Business Advantage

HOST: Hi everyone, I'm Kim Doherty, and this is Side Hustle Sessions. Today we're looking at what AI actually gives a small-business owner versus what it leaves undone, using a concrete laundry startup plan in Uganda as our test case. I'm joined by Sophie K, and I'd love to jump right into a feasibility study you shared for a laundry business in Fort Portal. The cover credits Manus AI. Walk me through how this came together: what did the AI produce, what did you verify, and how does it compare to doing it all by hand? GUEST: Thank you for having me. I'm Sophie representing Esco Business Strategy and Transformation and I shared my document about the laundry soap. AI helped me in making the marketing strategy. Of the side hustle as the laundry business. Okay, so AI helped me in the researching like about the area how this laundry business is going to operate in that area. So AI helped me to research about the market. It helped me to research about the competition around the area and also how we're going to design like our services. How are they going to be in the you know how we're going to put them out there. So we used it we used AI in the whole situation though we put in some human being knowledge. HOST: That makes sense—AI providing the framework but you filling in the specifics. Speaking of that, the report mentions it couldn't find a reliable local price list and that "ground truthing" is mandatory. When AI hands you a plan with assumptions like that, what's the first thing you have to do on the ground, and what happens to owners who skip that step? GUEST: am what I can say for now is that when you're using AI it's not a matter of using AI alone. AI needs your knowledge that's one because there is no way it can operate alone. AI needs knowledge and one thing I want people to know is that AI is not um it doesn't take the whole thing. It needs you to give it what you want it to do. So after after AI like making the research about the laundry business and the business and so on like we had to go back on the ground to see the actual things like you know to compare because we're comparing right now the humanity and the AI thing. So we found it a little bit challenging because AI was giving the right things but again on the ground you had to go in like you know to see for example in the marketing and competition you had to look out you had to go to the area and you see where like who are the competitors like the prices and you know who are the people who are going to support us the services in the area. So AI couldn't give it like in a real version but it gave us a sample and where to start from. HOST: That's a vital point—AI gives you the foundation, but human intuition and local insight pull it over the finish line. Looking at the laundry report's numbers, it needs about three paid orders a day just to break even, and that ignores paying the owner anything. If someone ran this side hustle, how many hours a week does that really take, and at what point would you advise them to quit their day job? GUEST: I will say because it is called a side hustle. Right? Meaning that this person is having some, you know, something which is bringing in another money or liquidity or something. So the side hustle, when we say side hustle, it means that something that you can do like for almost maybe for in a day like 3 hours or 4 hours. Like for example for the laundry, I will not say that the laundry the laundry the laundry business is work because the person we're making it for our client, he has his main job. So he's looking at this other job for laundry shop as a side hustle because he's, you know, he wants people to work in the laundry, the laundry side of the business. Okay? He's not the one who's going to be there. Meaning he'll be able to check out like, you know, in maybe 3 hours a day or 2 hours a day how things are going and, you know, to check out the cash books and to see how the flow, the cash flows are going on. So when someone says a side hustle, it means like a day because we have several types of side hustles and AI right now, people are using AI and you'll find that some businesses are for example, people who are in a big big top products and so on. People get big top products, they set the system like, you know, the sales system and you find that those people HOST: That distinction between being an owner managing a system rather than doing the daily work is crucial. I'm curious about your own business—where does AI genuinely save you hours in S.K Business Strategy, and is that a full-time pursuit for you? GUEST: Yeah, Escape Business Strategy and Transformation is a business that is offering services, okay, consultation services and also best offer business strategies. So, I use we use AI, me and my employees, we use AI in I think it's like the CRM system and also in the, you know, to track the leads and so on and also being creative in the marketing area like, for example, using AI like, you know, creating videos for the company and you find out that we're doing a good job like, you know, to help people how to market their brands like the AI is helping out like because it is bringing out the, you know, the quality and for example, managing the social media, you can also use AI in that area. We're using it right now and also the SEOs. So yeah, AI I use AI in my business too. HOST: I love hearing how you've integrated it into both your operations and client work. Speaking of tools, your site recommends quite a few AI and marketing platforms, and discloses affiliate links. What's your process for vetting these tools, and how do you decide which ones are worth recommending to your community? GUEST: My site, it has the affiliate links. Most of these AI websites or the tools, I've used them personally. For example, the Wasconic, is it Wasconic or something like that? It helps me in writing the blogs and so on. So there's no way I can recommend something I've not used. Before, I tell people that tools are helping out, but you just need to know, like you just need to have knowledge about the tools. There's no way you're going to bring the best out of those tools when you don't have the knowledge about them. So you need to go for training, you need to go like to have the basic knowledge about these tools. So yeah. HOST: That principle of gaining knowledge before relying on a tool is so important. Before we go—for listeners who want to follow up on what we covered, where can they find you and the work you're doing? GUEST: people who want to follow me and you know also support me. You can find me on my LinkedIn under the name Sofia Casule. You can also find me on my TikTok. It is Sofia Casule also. Also go on our website. We're still working under the sites of Google, but later on we'll customize the domain under the SK Business Strategy and Transformation. So you go on the link of SK Business Strategy and Transformation. You find all the details there. And we also have a blog site called My Soft Blog. You'll find things concerning business. Also the YouTube channel under the SK Business Hub. Also on Discord you'll find SK Business Growth Hub. HOST: Thanks so much for coming on, Sophia—the bit about needing foundational knowledge before relying on AI tools is going to stick with me. If you're enjoying Side Hustle Sessions, subscribe wherever you get your podcasts so the next episode lands in your feed automatically. And thank YOU for spending part of your day with us. It means a lot. Until next time—AIHosts.fm signing off.