Carly Ries
Most solopreneurs struggle with automation because they jump straight to automating before fixing the process itself. According to Corey Ganim, an AI consultant and guest on The Life First Solopreneur, the most common mistake is automating a broken process. If your workflow has 15 steps but only needs 11, automating it just makes the inefficiency run faster.
What is the AOA framework?
The AOA framework stands for audit, optimize, automate, and the order matters.
- Audit. Document your manual process from start to finish, even if it’s messy. Corey recorded a client walking through her onboarding and captured 25 separate steps.
- Optimize. Challenge every step. Is it a duplicate? Can two steps be combined? That client’s process dropped from 25 steps to 19 just by asking why each step existed.
- Automate. Turn the improved process into an AI skill that an agent can run the same way every time. Her weekly onboarding work went from about ninety minutes to roughly five.
What does AI automation actually look like for a small business?
In the onboarding example, a new client signup used to mean opening an email, copying details into ClickUp, tagging the client by cohort, drafting a welcome email, and inviting them to a Circle community. Now she simply tells Claude to run the client onboarding skill for that person. Claude completes each step in order, and she reviews the result at the end.
How can you make AI write like you?
The key is a brand voice skill. A skill is essentially a checklist that tells AI how to complete a task. You can attach reference files to a skill that show the AI what good looks like. Corey’s brand voice skill includes podcast transcripts, past emails, and LinkedIn posts so the AI learns how he actually writes and talks. He says this accounts for about 80% of getting quality writing. The other 20% is choosing a model that writes well, and right now he finds Claude and GPT 5.6 both strong options.
What are the best first automations for solopreneurs?
Corey recommends starting with two.
- A daily email brief. Have AI scan your unread email, flag the few messages that need action, and draft replies you can approve with one click. Run it in the morning and at the end of the day.
- A weekly sales pipeline check. Have AI review your email or CRM for opportunities that have gone cold so you can follow up before leads disappear.
How do you choose AI tools without getting overwhelmed?
Focus on workflows instead of tools. Corey uses three ROI levers to judge any AI tool or automation. It must make you more money, save you time, or improve the quality of your product or service. If it does none of those, skip it. For about 95% of what solopreneurs need, Claude or ChatGPT will get the job done.
What are the biggest AI automation mistakes?
- Automating before auditing and optimizing
- Treating the first version of a skill as finished. Version one typically gets you about 70% of the way, so plan on two to four rounds of feedback and testing.
- Giving AI more access than you’re comfortable with
How do you stop an AI agent from doing something wrong?
Use permissions. In Claude, every connected tool (like Gmail) lists the actions AI can take, and you can set each one to always allow, always ask, or blocked. For example, you might let Claude draft emails but block it from ever sending them.
How can a solopreneur make money selling AI services?
Corey runs a one-person business built on two offers.
- AI tools assessment. A 45-minute conversation to uncover a business owner’s bottlenecks, followed by a report recommending existing AI tools that solve them. He started at $500, moved to $1,000, and now charges $2,000.
- AI concierge retainer. Ongoing done-with-you consulting for $1,000 to $2,000 a month, covering two 45-minute calls. That works out to roughly $1,000 an hour, with nearly all of it profit since the main cost is a $20 monthly AI subscription.
Key takeaways
- Never automate a process you haven’t audited and optimized
- A brand voice skill with reference files is the secret to AI writing that sounds like you
- Start with an email brief and a pipeline check
- Every AI tool should make money, save time, or improve quality
- Know your income goal and work backwards to find how many clients you need
Frequently asked questions
Do I need to be technical to automate my business with AI?
No. Corey works specifically with non-technical entrepreneurs, and most automations can be built as skills inside Claude or ChatGPT.
Is Claude or ChatGPT better for writing?
Claude has traditionally led for writing, but Corey says GPT 5.6 is now very competitive. Your brand voice skill matters more than the model.
Where can I get Corey’s AI assessment template?
It’s available for free at audittemplate.ai.
Listen to the full episode of The Life-First Solopreneur to hear the whole conversation, and check out Corey’s Build with AI podcast to learn more about selling AI services.