5 AI Tools Every Small Business Should Know About

The Tools That Actually Save Time

There's a lot of AI noise out there. These are the five tools we actually recommend to small business owners after hundreds of hours of testing.

1. ChatGPT (OpenAI)

The one everyone's heard of, and for good reason. It's the best general-purpose writing assistant. Draft emails, brainstorm ideas, summarise long documents, write product descriptions. The free version is more than enough to start.

Best for: Writing, brainstorming, summarising.

2. Claude (Anthropic)

Think of Claude as ChatGPT's quieter, more thoughtful cousin. It's better at long documents, nuanced analysis, and tasks where you want careful reasoning over creative flair. Many professionals prefer it for research and planning.

Best for: Analysis, long documents, thoughtful writing.

3. Microsoft Copilot

If you live in Microsoft 365 (Word, Excel, Outlook, Teams), Copilot puts AI directly inside the tools you already use. It can draft emails in Outlook, analyse data in Excel, and summarise meetings in Teams. No switching between apps.

Best for: Microsoft 365 power users.

4. Notion AI

Notion is already a brilliant workspace for organising your business. Add the AI layer and it becomes a writing partner, database analyst, and project planner all in one. Perfect for solopreneurs who want everything in one place.

Best for: Organisation, project planning, solo operators.

5. Perplexity AI

Think of Perplexity as a search engine that actually answers questions. Instead of giving you ten blue links, it reads the sources and writes you a proper answer with citations. Brilliant for research, competitor analysis, and fact-checking.

Best for: Research, fact-checking, competitive analysis.

How to Choose

Don't try all five at once. Pick the one that solves your biggest daily frustration and spend a week with it. Once you're comfortable, add the next one.

Need help choosing? Book an AI Confidence Session and we'll identify the right tools for your specific workflow.