Today  I want to share how I built an AI agent for my small business. I won’t drown you into the research. What I will share are how I built it,  some of the lessons you need soak in and  the stuff  that all small business owners actually need to be thinking about now.

Now it’s not because AI’s coming to steal our clients or shrink our pay checks.

Well, okay – that could happen but only if we’re stubborn or slow to adapt.

However, facts are facts and this is one of them ⤵️ ⤵️

There’s nobody better equipped to harness AI than those belonging to the entrepreneurial community.

We’re the ones who always had to pivot on a dime, read all the rooms, scan the horizon and reinvent ourselves a dozen times before breakfast.

That makes us agile by force whether by nature or nurture.

By definition it also makes us more than ready to read, learn and implement AI agents in our small business workflows.

The Benefits of an AI Agent For a Small Business

Now I have no intentions of sugar coating your fears. 

 Meta chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, has predicted that AI agents will eventually outnumber humans. 

And if that sounds like something straight out of a sci-fi movie or big-tech playbook, you have a right to pause.

There is concern for sure, as there should be.

 But I mostly talk about using AI for good and how its intelligence can be leveraged by small biz owners.

 As founders, we’re the busy bees in our hives. 

We understand having all our hands in the pie.

We’re used to the pressure of wearing multiple hats, juggling endless tasks, and constantly feeling strapped for time.

That’s why I favour AI agents. They lighten the load.

Think of an AI agent as your always-on, digital assistant who never sleeps, never tires, and never complains (unlike us, who definitely need our coffee breaks).

It automates the repetitive stuff, freeing you to dive deeper into the creative, strategic, and impactful areas of your business.

No sci fi factor, heck, this is just software. 

Practical examples of AI Agents

But let’s talk specifics— the  tangible perks, the benefits.  And you know me, I like to drop examples that’ll make you go Ahhhhhhh.

Here are three:

• Restaurant Owner: Your AI agent can manage reservations, suggest inventory replenishment before items run out, and analyze customer reviews to highlight exactly what’s working and what needs tweaking.

• Finance Consultant: Think of an agent here instantly organizing and interpreting financial data, generating personalizded reports, and even predicting cash-flow challenges ahead of time, allowing you, as the consultant to proactively advise clients.

• Hairdresser: In a salon an AI agent can schedule appointments, send automated reminders, and analyze client preferences to recommend personalised styling tips or products.

So yes, I get what Meta’s head honcho said because if you get the opportunity to build one, you should.

Let me scratch that.🔴

You need to seize the opportunity to create an AI agent.

But let’s not keep this in the realm of just theory

I promised you my personal story. 

Now, its time to show  you exactly how I built Amy, my first  AI agent.

I   created  Amy specifically for small biz owners  who want to build digital offers. 

 Here’s the backstory.

Meet Amy, My AI Agent For Small Business  

Amy—my first AI agent—is gearing up to make her debut in the galaxy of digital offer creation next month.

She’s built to do what most small business owners struggle with when creating landing pages: getting straight to the heart of their message.

The stuff that makes people stop scrolling, feel seen, and click “buy.”

Because profitable landing pages don’t happen by chance. Someone behind the scenes got their customer avatar right.

Not just age and location, but the deep stuff: fears, motivations, hesitations, dreams.

The emotional blueprint.

Amy takes all of that and turns it into gold. Or as I like to say, cha-ching, cha-ching.

She’s part coach, part conversion copywriter, part marketing strategist—all rolled into one tidy, ever-evolving AI agent.

We’ve trained her to coach up to three different personas, and her style adjusts on the fly based on what users tell her through a structured prompt.

Built-in flexibility. Smart responses. Real-time shifts.

I know, right? 🤯

This is what we do as small business owners. We spot the gaps.

We find the tools.

We build what we wish existed—not just for ourselves, but for the people we serve.

Questions I Asked Before Building An AI Agent For My Small Business

What Tech Stack Did I Use?

I’ve been creating scalable, structured prompts for well over two years now—ever since GPT-3 proved it could write at least moderately well (hallucinations aside).

I’ve used those prompts—what I like to call my “pieces of code”—to build landing pages and sales funnels.

But a software developer? That’s not me.

So I leaned on my systems administrator, who decided to build using Laravel for its cost efficiency.

And when it came time to load the models—Claude, GPT-4o, DeepSeek V3, Gemini, Qwen Coder and a few others—we chose DeepSeek (via AWS Bedrock) because it offered comparable power at a fraction of the cost.

My systems team did all the coding.

Now, yes—I know tools like Aider or Cline exist that give you a no-code experience. You feed them instructions and prompts, and they write the code for you. And let’s be honest, this is what the future of AI looks like: tools that run semi-autonomously, or even fully on their own.

But coders will be coders—and I’m not mad at the decision to go with custom code for Amy.

That said, you don’t need to code or be a developer to build your own AI agent.

What you need is an idea to improve your workflow, and a solid enough vocabulary to describe what you want clearly.

More often than not, when you’re building an AI agent for your small business, it’s NCR: no code required.

Key Learnings When Building An AI Agent For Your  Small Business 

So let’s begin a wrap up  with all the promises I made at the top.

 What’s the biggest lesson  can you learn from a willingness to build an AI agent your small business?

If you got this far it says something about your curiosity and deep interest

 So where do you go from here?

One of my favourite mentors on the topic Chris Penn says the  first place you start is with a question: 

What tasks do I currently do that an AI agent could take over?

  Do they have the skills suited for such a task?

Can you articulate your needs clearly first to yourself and then to an AI?”

Second, once you’ve done your audit and you know which area you’d like to begin with – start small.

 Work with a developer or a no-code app. 

In either case, you’re rolling up your sleeves, dusting off  your keyboard, and sitting down to plan (if you’re wearing the small biz/  project hat)   

OR

You’re working with  the AI model of your choice to see how you could create an agent that can handle tasks that are repetitive, overwhelming, or within your weak areas and blind spots. 

In this scenario you/re taking on the no code build out yourself. It’s rubber meets the road now.

You need to focus, build, iterate, test etc.

Next, once you have your AI agent up and running, you need to focus on your prize and start extracting real value from it and since it is a MVP you need to continue to test and guide.

This is how the close to great AI agents are built. Really it’s just determination and knowing exactly how you need it to evolve over time as I share in this post about my process. 

Future of AI Assistants: Why A Small Business Needs An AI Agent

This a a new world. I know you’ve heard me say it a million times here on these blog streets 

But  in this world, Agentic AI represents a massive shift because this is not about sitting  behind a keyboard and creating a prompt and getting an output.

 Charlene Li, a voice I  respect on the topic says  with AI agents we have shifted to a world: “Where agents can perceive context, reason through multi-step processes, and take independent actions.” 

They work independently.

Since the aim of an AI agent is to achieve a specific goal. The most amazing part of all this is that agents can  learn and adapt through a continuous loop of planning, acting, and reflecting

As a small business owner, you set the path, with a goal the agent accesses data, skills, and applications, making decisions to accomplish that goal—often without you in the loop.

Read that again ⬆️ ⬆️ ⬆️   because this part is important you’re no longer in the loop.

 This is where the real opportunity is because in  a world run by AI agents and we’re getting there, what distinguishes you, is your brand.

 Don’t Neglect Your Brand 

We’re in a new era—one where we don’t have to ask search engines or scroll social media to get answers anymore.

It’s a far cry from where we started.

Now, AI is trained on our material. It recognizes our work. And it’s starting to recommend us in search.

Yes, that can feel unsettling. Some might even call it big tech theft.

But is there an upside for us?

Absolutely. Your brand is your advantage. And you can control what AI learns about you

So make your brand bold. Make it clear. Let AI learn your insights, your voice, your opinions—but not your methodology.

Guide it, so you and your business show up in the models it uses to make decisions.

I know this means letting go of fear. Of hesitation. 

But as  a small business owner, you need to be AI-forward. 

Take what’s out there and make it work for you—to add value, serve your people, and yes, earn profit too.

You’re already great at what you do. An AI agent won’t replace that—it’ll help you do it better, faster, and with more ease.

Make the time to learn. 

Key Features of Small Business AI Agents

Okay, my final point.

 I want to make my case about not fearing AI agents—but instead, getting used to the fact that they’re going to fast become part of your world.

And by that, I mean they’ll be everywhere. 

The small business owner who understands this early on? They’re the ones who’ll win.

So let’s count the ways an AI agent becomes your golden ticket to speed, efficiency, and—yeah—money too:

• It Never Sleeps: Your AI agent works round-the-clock, managing repetitive and mundane tasks so you don’t have to.

•  Intelligence You Cna Make Your Onw: It can be tailored precisely to your needs. It learns and adapts based on your inputs, becoming more accurate and personalized the more you use it. This was a big factor in building my own AI agent.

• Seamless Integration: Good agents fit effortlessly into your existing tools and workflows—and since you know your workflow, all you really need is the language to describe it well.

• It Co-created: It doesn’t just respond to instructions. It anticipates challenges, spots opportunities, and suggests practical solutions before problems even arise.

• It saves yur time and you earn more: By streamlining operations, your AI agent helps cut costs, boost productivity, and ultimately, grow your bottom line.

• Code or No Code: Sure, my first AI agent was built with code—but it doesn’t have to be.You can absolutely build one without writing a single line.

Bottom line? Because there is always one 🤭

When it comes to the brass tacks of its architecture, a small biz AI agent is more than just a helper—it’s a powerful partner in growing your business. 

It’s the present and the future.

FAQs About AI Agents for Small Business

1. Do I need to know how to code to build an AI agent for my business Not at all. While my own AI agent, Amy was built with code, this was a personal choice. I have a systems pro on my team. But there are tons of no-code tools out there now that make building your own AI agent completely doable. If you know your workflows well and can clearly communicate what you need, you’re already halfway there.
2. How is an AI agent different from ChatGPT or other AI tools? Great question. Tools like ChatGPT are general-purpose. An AI agent, on the other hand, is trained or structured to complete specific tasks based on your business needs. It can take action, learn from patterns, and operate within your unique workflows—think of it as your own AI employee, not just a chatbot.
3. What’s the first step to building my own AI agent? Start by asking: What tasks in my business are repetitive, overwhelming, or prone to error? . Once you know the “what,” the “how” becomes much easier—whether through a no-code platform or by working with a developer.
4. Is it expensive to build an AI agent for a small business? It doesn’t have to be. In fact, many tools are affordable, and if you’re resourceful, you can start small. I always recommend starting with a minimum viable version of your idea, testing it, and building from there. Small budgets just mean smarter decisions.
5. Will an AI agent replace my team—or me? Not at all. For small businesses, AI agents are more like extra hands on deck than replacements. They take care of time-consuming, repetitive tasks—things you or your team might not have the bandwidth for. That means fewer dropped balls, less burnout, and more time for the work that actually grows your business. 
   
   

Thanks for reading and oh, let’s  chat  some more. I’d love to hear from you,

Comment below with any questions that you may have about creating an AI agent of your own.

 Or just write the word “understood” if my words about not fearing AI agents actually served you and gave you some clarity today.

And as always, here’s to working from a place of passion, peace and profit.

Whenever You Need Help….