This is the first podcast of 2026.

And yes, we have arrived.

If you run a small business, this is for you.

The aim of this podcast is simple.
I take what I do every day with small business clients and strip it down into something useful.
No theory. No noise. Just what works.

Let’s get the obvious out of the way.

Running a small business is hard right now.
What used to work in marketing does not work like it did.
Advice feels harder to trust.
And customers behave differently.

A big reason for that is AI.

If you search for advice today, you do not get ten blue links.
You get an answer.

That answer is often close to what an accountant or solicitor used to charge for.
AI models can now pass basic law and accountancy exams.
That alone should make you pause.

But there is a catch.

AI does not understand your business.
It does not understand nuance.
And it does not ask follow-up questions.

Ask an AI model how much tax you owe.
Give it last year’s turnover.
It will confidently give you a number.

That number is usually wrong.

A human advisor asks questions.
Expenses. Losses. Timing. Carry-forwards.
AI skips all of that and moves straight to an answer.

Confidence is not accuracy.

Your customers are doing the same thing.

They no longer ring first.
They ask an AI model.
Sometimes the answer is wrong.
Sometimes it is good enough to delay speaking to you.

That breaks the old model where content led to trust and trust led to contact.

If you do physical work, you are safer.
Plumbers still need to turn up.
Builders still need to build.

If your work is information-based and remote, pressure is coming.
UK tax returns are already being handled using AI tools based overseas.

This is not theory.
It is happening.

For a small monthly fee, AI is an incredible tool.
It helps thinking.
It helps planning.
It helps speed.

But it does not replace judgment.

When someone says “I have a sales problem,” that is never one problem.
It could be two hundred.
AI does not prioritise.
It lists.

And lists create overwhelm, not decisions.

More tools.
More pressure.
More misinformation.
More noise.

Also more opportunity for owners who think clearly.

The advantage goes to people who use AI as a tool, not a crutch.

If any of this feels familiar, get in touch.

You can find out more at www.therichardsmith.com.
If you run a smaller business, head to smallbusinessninja.co.uk.

Tell me the problem.
I will give you a couple of ways to think about it.
No charge.

Because that is still how this works.

Get In Touch