Episode 007 - From AI Confusion to Clarity in Business Operations

Overview:

Is your business ready for the AI revolution, or are you unwittingly inviting chaos into your operations? Discover how AI SOPs—Standard Operating Procedures for Artificial Intelligence—can be your blueprint for success, ensuring your AI tools work seamlessly for you rather than against you. Host Charlene DeLoach walks you through the essentials of creating AI SOPs in the latest Toypreneur Podcast episode, equipping toy creators, retailers, and entrepreneurs with the knowledge to harness AI's potential without falling prey to its unpredictability.

Charlene shares vivid analogies and practical steps to illustrate the importance of structure when incorporating AI into your business. Picture a restaurant with no recipes or a genius employee with no guidance—chaos ensues. But with the right SOPs, you'll avoid confusion, mistakes, and even legal troubles, all while boosting efficiency and productivity. This episode is packed with actionable insights to help you manage AI like a pro, setting the stage for a smooth and successful operation in the toy industry and beyond. Tune in to learn how to craft the perfect AI strategy for your business's long-term success.

Key Takeaways:

This episode of the Toypreneur Podcast delves into the importance of having Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for AI, or as we refer to it, AI SOPs. The core concept revolves around establishing guidelines that ensure consistency, fairness, and ethical use of AI tools in a business setting.

Transcript:

Charlene DeLoach: 0:00

From prototype to playground, from trade shows to TikTok. This is the Toypreneur Podcast. I'm Charlene DeLoach, bringing you bite-sized tech solutions for toy industry success, and today we're diving into something that you are going to need on your radar ASAP, and that is AI SOPs, or Standard Operating Procedures for Artificial Intelligence, procedures for artificial intelligence. Welcome to the Toypreneur Podcast, where motivation meets marketing for playful solopreneurs. I'm your host, charlene DeLoach, and I am here to help you turn your passion in the play space into a thriving reality. Whether you're a creator, retailer or entrepreneur, are you ready to stop building someone else's dream and start creating your own? It's time to play people. This is the Toypreneur Podcast. Now, wait, don't tune out yet. I promise this isn't some sort of techie mumbo jumbo episode, but you really need to start thinking about AI SOPs as the rules that you will need in the coming year to keep your business running smoothly when using AI tools. Now, of course, why should you care right? Well, if you are using AI to create any emails, analyze customer data, use it for photo generation or even just to speed up your work, having clear rules will save you from big headaches later, so I'm going to break this down, give you some examples and share a few easy action steps so you can leave this episode a little smarter than you came in. So let's go. Can leave this episode a little smarter than you came in, so let's go.

Charlene DeLoach: 1:48

So what's the big deal about AI SOPs? Well, here's the simplest way to think about it. Imagine you have an employee who is brilliant but kind of unpredictable. Sometimes they get the job done perfectly, other times they miss the mark entirely. Well, ai is that employee. It's powerful and smart, but without guidance it might do things you didn't ask for or, worse, get you into trouble. Now think about how you would manage an employee like that. Well, you give them a clear instructions. You would set expectations. You would have quarterly and annual reviews. You would check in weekly to make sure. Quarterly and annual reviews. You would check in weekly to make sure they're staying on track right. You would ask them to give them the work so you can review it.

Charlene DeLoach: 2:33

So AI needs that kind of structure too. You don't just set it up and forget it. You don't just keep using it without sort of those check-ins. Ai needs processes to make sure it's doing its job well. You need to update its job description when things change and you need internal reviews to catch any mistakes before they turn into big problems. It's like a recipe. You don't just toss everything in a pot and hope for the best right. You follow a process, you taste test, you adjust it if it's like too salty or missing flavor. Ai SOPs are your recipe for success with artificial intelligence. But you know, let's talk about the nightmare scenario, basically what happens when you don't have an AI SOP.

Charlene DeLoach: 3:19

All right, let's stick with the food analogy. Imagine running a restaurant where no one knows what is cooking, who's cooking it, what the recipe is nothing. Right. Orders come in, but the kitchen is chaos. Some dishes are amazing, others disaster. People are being served tacos but they ordered a hamburger, and your customers are confused and frustrated. That's what happens when you let AI run wild without rules. Right, confusion If different team members are using the same AI tool in completely different ways. It's like two chefs making the same dish with totally different ingredients and totally different recipes Generate lots of mistakes. Right, if AI generates something that is factually wrong or inappropriate, you don't catch it in time. It's like serving a dish with an ingredient that your customer is allergic to. And, of course, legal trouble. Regular buyers are starting to ask how your business is using AI If you have no clear answers. It is the equivalent of a surprise health inspection when you know your kitchen isn't up to code. So without SLPs, you're really setting yourself up for chaos, wasted time, potential disasters and maybe even loss of revenue.

Charlene DeLoach: 4:31

All right, hopefully I haven't scared you a little bit, but let's talk solutions, right? How do you actually create an AI SOP without feeling overwhelmed? Well, let's break it down into five simple steps. Number one list your AI tools. What are you using in your business right now? That is AI generated. Are you using ChatGPT? Are you using Claude? Are you using the AI that's built into your email automation system or your service provider? Whatever it is? Just write it all down. Then you're going to start to see what you're using every day in your business. Then, if you have a team, or even if you don't, but find some time after you get that done to all sit down and say how are we all using this? And you might find that some people are using that AI in the email service provider and other people are using chat GPT to do it.

Charlene DeLoach: 5:29

You're going to start to see how people are using things differently and then that will lead to the second step, which is setting clear rules. So let's imagine you hire a babysitter, right? And before you leave for the night, you usually tell them, like you know what's off limits, like don't give the kids sodas, or you know what do they need to check in about, right? Like okay, well, what time is the kid's bed? And you, and what time did they? What do they wear for pajamas and all those kinds of things, right? And then, of course, what happens if something goes wrong? Well, what does it call you? Well, you have to tell AI the same thing.

Charlene DeLoach: 6:04

So now, once you know all the AI tools in your business and who's using them in what capacity, now it's time to set those clear rules. So, what does the entire team use to write emails? What does the team use for your chatbot? What does the team use for ideation? What is the team right? So all you need to do is saying these are what we use and this is how we're going to use them in the business. So that way, everybody is using ChatGPT to put together the presentations and everybody else is using Claude to write the weekly emails. Rather than, some are using Claude, some are using ChatGPT, some are using even a whole third one. So set those expectations. Write down the when and where and how you use those tools. Write down the when and where and how you use those tools.

Charlene DeLoach: 6:55

Then you need to set standards on making it easy for your team, right? Like some people love AI, it is so easy and natural for them it's probably the first thing they hop in on and go on in the morning. For other team members, not so much, right, you don't just tell somebody hey, I want you to make this really fancy French espresso. And here it all is. Here's the manual. Someone's going to be like I don't drink coffee, I don't know how, I have no idea how to do this. How do I know if it tastes right? What are the things right? So you need to do the same thing. Your AI SOP should also have very clear steps on trainings and check-ins and so on and so forth.

Charlene DeLoach: 7:40

And, of course, the fourth is staying transparent. You really need to let your customers, your clients, know if you're using AI. You're with them, right? It's like sticking with the food example again. It's like going off to a dinner party and you brought dessert that you just bought at the store, but you pretended that you made it right. It's not cool. So you'll need to just have, maybe, terms of service listed on your website saying when and how you use AI. Maybe, if you're using AI generated images, you have a little caption on the bottom that says made with AI. Just a little forward-facing things just sets the standards when you interact with the public and, of course, just like everything, you need to review regularly.

Charlene DeLoach: 8:30

Ai is moving so fast, so your SOP needs to have some built-in processes in place. You check in with your team, check in with other things that are being created out there. How do you adjust? Should you switch and just see what is working and not working in your business when you use AI? So just to recap first step list all your AI tools. Second step set clear rules on how you're using those tools. Step three set up trainings and processes on how to use those tools. Second step set clear rules on how you're using those tools. Step three set up trainings and processes on how to use those tools. Step four stay transparent when using those tools with your customers and your clients. And number five constantly review those tools in your business to make sure that they're the right tool for you At the time. There's so many new tips and tricks and services out there. You probably will need to adjust, and also adjust in how you're going to use it in your business.

Charlene DeLoach: 9:22

So here's the bottom line. Ai is definitely a superpower for your business, but every superhero needs a strategy. So AI SOPs give you control, they protect your reputation and they make sure you're staying on track. So your action item start with step one. Just at least list all your AI tools and how you're currently using them in your business. Once you see what you're working with, the rest of the steps will feel way less overwhelming. So if this episode helped, please share it with a friend, subscribe or forward it to a colleague who is about to dive into the AI world. And, hey, let's make AI work for us, not the other way around. Catch you next time. Remember, building a business in the play space isn't just about making money. It's about building something meaningful too. I'm Charlene Deloach, reminding you that it's time to play by leveling up. See you next time on the Toypreneur Podcast.

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