Run a one-week AI experiment with your small business

A small business does not need to redesign its operations to learn something useful about AI. A bounded experiment gives you a clearer answer than a broad promise of transformation. Choose a low-risk task with an obvious human reviewer, such as drafting an internal FAQ from approved material.

Monday: define the job

Write down the current process, what takes time, and what a good result looks like. Choose one person to own the experiment. Decide which information may be used and which must stay out. Keep the task away from decisions or messages that should not happen without review.

Tuesday and Wednesday: try real examples

Use a small set of representative inputs. Keep the original task brief the same so you can compare results. Record preparation time, review time, and the type of corrections needed. Include an example with missing information to see whether the output admits the gap.

Thursday: examine the weak spots

Averages can hide a serious mistake. Look at the worst result as well as the easiest success. If an FAQ draft invents a policy, that matters even when the writing is excellent. Tighten the source material and the instructions, then repeat the failed example.

Friday: make a small decision

• Keep it if the reviewed result is useful and the overall process is easier.
• Adjust it if the benefit is clear but one step creates avoidable friction.
• Stop it if checking the result costs more than doing the original task.

Document the decision in a few sentences, including the limits of the experiment. A week of drafting internal answers does not prove that a system is ready to answer customers automatically. The useful outcome is a specific piece of evidence about one job in your business.