For more than 25 years, my work has involved turning ideas into systems people can use. That includes planning products, developing software, running businesses, and supporting what happens after launch. Across those different roles, one question keeps coming back: how can we make everyday work easier without creating another problem to manage?
That question is at the heart of The 50 Practical Ways Series.
I want these books to help readers move from understanding a problem to doing something about it. Each book takes one subject and explores fifty practical ways to approach it. Each way should be specific enough for a reader to decide whether it fits their situation and what to do next.
The first book is AI for Small Business Owners: 50 Practical Ways to Automate the Work You’re Still Paying People to Do.
Small business owners carry many responsibilities. Customer questions, follow-ups, marketing, paperwork, and internal coordination all compete for attention. Even a short task becomes expensive when it needs to be repeated every day. Paying for that work can mean hiring someone, outsourcing it, or spending the owner’s own time on it.
AI opens up possibilities for handling some of that work. Choosing where to use it still requires care. A useful automation needs a clear purpose, an acceptable cost, and a way to check the result. Someone also needs to understand what happens when it makes a mistake.
Those are the questions I want the book to address alongside the setup instructions. What can this approach help with? What information does it need? What should a person review? When does the effort of setting it up make sense?
For example, preparing a draft response to a routine customer question can be useful. Deciding how to handle a sensitive complaint may require the owner’s judgment. Understanding that boundary is part of making automation dependable.
My experience with software and business shapes how I approach these subjects. Through Syntexsys and GLT Design, I’ve worked across development, business automation, infrastructure, and ongoing support. A system’s value becomes clearer when people have to use it, maintain it, and pay for it over time. I want to bring that practical perspective into the writing.
The series also gives me a way to explore subjects beyond technology. Beyond Screen-Time Battles, which is in development, applies the same practical structure to a different challenge: helping families navigate phones, social media, and time together. For subjects like that, I’m interested in working with people whose expertise complements my own.
AI for Small Business Owners is currently in final production, with paperback, hardcover, and Kindle editions planned for Amazon. I’ll share publication updates here, along with selected ideas from the book and lessons from the writing process.
My hope is that readers will find a useful starting point, try an approach that fits their circumstances, and gain a little more time for the work and people that need their attention.
