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Good morning, good afternoon, or good evening, depending on where you are in the world. And welcome to another episode of the AI Lean Edge. I'm your host Brian Bricker, broadcasting from my office at AI Lean Solutions. And today we're tackling a topic that's near and dear to every small business owner's heart. Scaling your business. Now I know what you may be thinking. I don't have time to breathe, let alone scale. I'm barely keeping up as it is. And that's exactly the point of today's conversation. Scaling doesn't have to mean more late nights, more stress, or more staff. Scaling can and should mean smarter systems, smoother operations, and more freedom. And in today's world, the secret to making that happen is automation. On today's podcast, we're also going to look at the top technology updates from this week 40 years ago, back in 1985, as well as introduce you to another great Lean process improvement book. So pour yourself a cup of coffee or something stronger, settle in and then let's talk about how you can use automation to unlock growth without burning yourself out.

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Chaos out, clarity in, cut the noise and dial in the win a Eileen Edge Stream it, dream it, lean it tight I lean edge everything just works right Hey I lean edge say goodbye to the sludge Run it clean, run it mean.

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Okay, we're going to start off today in the Wayback Machine going back to October of 1985 for the top tech news. Then plus development, which was a subsidiary of Quantum, launched the hard card, a 10 megabyte hard drive with its controller integrated into an ISA expansion card. So the advantage of this technology at the time was you could add a hard drive to a PC without needing a separate controller, card and cabling. It was marketed as a miniaturized easier way to upgrade older systems and many competitors jumped in quickly. By mid-1986, there were dozens of similar disk on card designs emerging throughout the computer world. So in the fall of 1985, the hard card represented a neat example of integration and ease of upgrade in personal computer storage. Definitely the, you know, the first examples of what would later go on to become the external drives and the thumb drives that are very common today. Next from 40 years ago, the gem, or the graphics Environment Manager, was gaining momentum. Digital Research's desktop environment, called GEM or the Graphics Environment Manager had been released earlier in 1985, but by October, the ecosystem momentum was building. At Comdex. In the fall of 1985, GEM was a star attraction. Digital research reported that GEM had shipped around 50,000 retail units plus 50,000 OEM units as well. So they also previewed the new GEM applications like GEM Graph and had dealers and training sessions in full swing. GEMS Role, which offered a Windows like interface on Ms. DOS systems, which gave users Windows icons, menus and pointers as opposed to text based management of the disk operating systems. So In October of 1985, GEM was in a definite growth phase, pushing the desktop metaphor on microcomputers, being beyond just the command line interfaces. And as you know, now those graphic interfaces are the only thing that we use between phones, pads, tablets and computers. And so 40 years ago, in 1985, that really began with Digital Research's GEM interface. Also In October of 1985, the issue of Creative Computing mentions a device called the Transat 1000. The pitch for this device, it would free your computer from waiting on peripherals, for example, while printing or doing communications. The computer at that time would actually stop everything it was doing in order to focus the attention on whatever the peripheral was. But using this device from Transatlantic, it would be able to manage your other computer operations while also managing the peripherals. So it can serve as a shared buffer or mailbox device, letting two computers share a printer or routing data between machines. You know, it's a small but useful piece in easing the bottlenecks common in mid 80s PCs and also the precursor to a lot of the networking and networking technology advancements that were to come from then. So in 1985, the local area networking space, or the LAN space was heating up. According to historical accounts, the competitive landscape for LAN and data communications firms was shifting. Firms like 3Com, Ungerman, Bass and Saitech were pushing Ethernet bridging and packet switching solutions. The state of competition in 1985 shows that the land business was becoming more structured with firms jockeying over standards, compatibility and performance. And so this growth with LAN infrastructure and enterprise and small business environments was foundational to future networked computing, file sharing, client server, eventually the Internet, cloud computing and that sort of thing. So around October 1985, the land sector was not necessarily unveiling dramatic new protocols in that that particular week, first week of October. But the competitive pressure, standardization and adoption momentum were very, very real at that time, 40 years ago. And finally, the last key milestone from 1985, the first week of October was the first official reference guide for C, which was object oriented programming language was published, marking a major moment in the maturation of the language. C, which was developed by AT&T Bell Labs starting in 1979, it bridged procedural and object oriented ideas, keeping C compatibility while adding class, inheritance, et cetera. This formalization and documentation helped C gain more serious traction in systems programming, large scale projects, and eventually in the broader software ecosystem. So in 1985, this sort of formal standard reference marked a shift to the C from research experimental into something more broadly usable and credible. And though the official reference guide was dated October 14, the buildup and adoption conversations around it would have been active in the first week of October 1985. So all of these definitely reflect a transitional era. 40 years ago. PCs were becoming more capable, user interfaces were evolving beyond text, hardware was integrating functions, networks were spreading, and software paradigms were shifting towards object orientation. All things that were the precursor to the technologies that we take for granted today. Now let's move on to our main topic today, scaling your small business with automation. And I'm going to start with a story. So picture Lisa. Lisa runs a small retail shop. She's passionate, hardworking, and her customers love her. But here's the problem. Lisa's always at the shop. She's the one answering the phones, posting on social media, managing the books, ordering inventory, dealing with suppliers, and yes, helping customers. Now, you may know Lisa, or you may be Lisa. If so, keep listening. And Lisa's not alone. I've obviously met hundreds of business owners exactly in this spot. They think scaling equals we have to do more more hours, more staff, more headaches. But here's the flaw. Human hours don't scale. You only have so many hours in a day. Your employees have only have so many hours also. And the more people you add, the more complexity you add. More payroll, more scheduling, more training. So what happens? Growth stalls. Or worse, growth breaks the business because the systems can't keep up. We've all seen examples of businesses that grow too fast. So I've seen firsthand in my career many examples of businesses that grow too fast. Whether it was leading teams in emergency management or running nonprofits in healthcare logistics, I've watched organizations hit that wall. Everyone's busy, but not everyone is productive. And the weight of inefficiency starts to crush morale. Sound familiar? If so, automation is going to feel like a lifeline. So why does automation change the game? Let me give you a metaphor. Imagine your business is a warehouse. Right now, you're moving boxes by hand. You're pushing, lifting, carrying, sweating. It works, but it's exhausting. Automation is like installing conveyor belts. Suddenly, the boxes move themselves. You, you still have to decide where they go. You still have to design the flow. But you're not breaking Your back moving every single box. That's what automation does for your business. It takes the repetitive, routine tasks off your plate. It ensures consistency, it reduces human error, and it creates space for you and your team to focus on the high value work that really drives growth. Let me share a personal example. Years ago, when I was working in healthcare logistics, we had a process at month end that took staff three weeks to complete. Three weeks. That meant three weeks of stress, overtime and distraction from other priorities. Through process improvement and automation, we cut that down to four days. Four days. And here's the kicker. We actually reduced staff burnout and morale went up. People could focus on meaningful work instead of just grinding out reports. That's the power of automation. It's not about replacing people, it's about freeing people. And that's the shift I want you to make in your own business. Instead of thinking, how can I work harder to scale, ask how can I work smarter with automation? Now let's get practical. Where do you even start? There are five areas I recommend for small businesses. These are the big wins. The areas where automation makes an immediate impact. Number one Customer communication. Think about how many times you answer the same question. What are your hours? Do you deliver? Do you have gluten free options? A simple chatbot on your website or Facebook page can answer those questions instantly. 247 tools like Intercom, Tidio or Manychat are easy to set up and affordable. They don't replace you. They free you. Number two Marketing. Instead of manually sending emails every week, use tools like Mailerlite or Constant Contact to set up automated sequences. Someone signs up for your newsletter, Boom. They get a welcome email series without you lifting a finger. Social media tools like Buffer or hootsuite let you schedule posts for the week in one sitting. Imagine not waking up every morning thinking, oh no, what do I post today? Number three Sales and lead nurturing. A customer fills out a form on your site. Do you remember to follow up every time? With a CRM like HubSpot or Zoho, follow up is automatic. You can even set reminders for personal calls when it matters most and contracts. Services like PandaDoc or DocuSign can automatically send proposals and collect signatures without the endless back and forth. Number four Operations and workflow. This is where tools like Asana, Trello and ClickUp shine. Imagine assigning tasks automatically when a new project starts. No more wondering who's doing what. Inventory tools are another big win. They can reorder products when stock runs low. That means no more late night panic when you Realize you're out of your best seller. And then finally, number five, finance. If you're still typing out invoices by hand, please stop. Tools like QuickBooks, FreshBooks, or Wave Handle billing reminders and payment collection automatically. Expense tracking apps sync directly with your bank. No more shoebox full of receipts at tax time. Here's the thing. Every one of these areas can be automated affordably, often for less than you spend on coffee each month. And the return is massive. Now, I can almost hear some of you saying, this all sounds great, but. So let's talk about those buts. The first one is, I don't have time to set it up. Here's my tough love. You're already spending that time. You're just spending it the harder way. Setting up an automation once can save you hundreds of hours later. Second, it's too expensive. I get it. Budgets are tight. But many automation tools start at under $20 a month. Compare that to the cost of hiring even one extra employee. Automation doesn't cost, it pays. Third, I'm not tech savvy. Let me, let me definitely reassure you here. Modern tools are built for everyday users. Drag and drop templates, step by step guides. If you can send an email, you can set up automation. And if you really don't want to, there are affordable consultants who can set it up for you in a weekend. Now, one of the biggest fears I hear is if I automate, my business will feel less personal. Let me flip that on its head. Automation doesn't take the human out of your business. It gives you back the time to be more human. Think about it. Do you want to spend your day copy pasting answers to customer questions? Or do you want to spend it sitting down with a client, listening to their story and building a relationship? Automation doesn't replace your humanity, it restores it. Here's an example. A bakery I work with was drowning in calls. People wanted to know flavors of the day, custom cake options, hours. We set up a chatbot. Within a month, it was answering 80% of those questions. And you know what the owner told me? I finally had time to invent new recipes again. Automation gives her the space to be creative, to bring her unique value back into the business. That's the human side of automation. You probably noticed by now that I'm passionate about helping small business owners stop drowning in the day to day and finally start running their business instead of being run by it. That's exactly why I wrote my new book, Smarter, Leaner, Faster How AI and Lean thinking can transform your small Business. This isn't another tech book full of jargon. And it's not a dry business manual either. It's a practical guide written for people like you. The retail shop owner, real estate broker, the accountant, the lawyer, the service based entrepreneur. People like you who know you need to be more efficient, but you just don't have time to waste on trial and error. Inside my book I walk you through the core lean principles that companies like Toyota use to dominate their industries. And I translate them into simple steps you can apply in your own business business whether you're running a bakery, a mechanic shop or a consulting practice. Then I show you how to combine those lean principles with the power of artificial intelligence. Tools that are affordable, accessible, and actually make sense for a small business. You'll learn how to spot waste that's draining your profits, how to streamline your processes so your business runs smoothly, and how to plug in AI to handle repetitive tasks. Give you insights that you've never had before and free up your time for the work only you can do. But here's the most important part. This book isn't about chasing shiny objects. It's about building a business that feels lighter, stronger and more profitable without burning you out. So if you're tired of feeling like growth equals more stress, if you want to build a company that scales without stealing your life away, grab your copy of Smarter, Leaner, Faster today. You can find it on Amazon or head over to aileansolutions.com for direct links and some bonus resources. Remember, you don't need to work harder to succeed. You need to work smarter, leaner and faster. And this book shows you exactly how. So let's bring this home. Scaling your business isn't about adding more hours, more stress, or more people. It's about systems. It's about smart processes, and most of all, it's about automation. Five areas Customer communication, marketing, sales, operations and finance. Start small. Pick one Automate Just one repetitive task this week. Ask yourself what's one thing you do every single day that drains you, that bores you, that makes you think? There's got to be a better way? That's your starting point. If you want more guidance. I cover these ideas in detail in my book Smarter, Leaner, Faster. And on my website, aileensolutions.com you'll find tools, checklists and resources to help you take the next step. Scaling is possible, freedom is possible, and automation is that bridge that will help you. So before I close, I want to leave you with a few reflection questions. What's one task you wish you never had to do again? How much time would it free up for you if that task disappeared tomorrow? And most importantly, what would you do with that time? Email me your answers or share them on social media with the hashtag aileanedge. I'd love to hear from you. And as always, thank you for joining me for another episode of the AI Lean Edge podcast, coming at you with new lean thinking and AI resources every Monday. If you're enjoying the podcast, please like follow, leave comments and share with other small business owners so we can get this knowledge out to as many entrepreneurs as possible. And until next time, keep getting smarter, leaner and faster. And don't stop leaning into AI.