I’m often asked by business owners, “How do I make my business stand out from the competition?” My answer is simpler than you might expect. In this short video, I share two things I believe every business owner should focus on if they want to become more visible and stay front of mind with their audience. Watch now I’d love to hear what you think.

Most business owners are not getting poor results from AI because the technology is weak. They are getting poor results because they are asking poor questions. “Write me a LinkedIn post.” “Give me some marketing ideas.” “Help me grow my business.” The problem is that AI has no idea what good looks like for your business unless you give it the context to work with. So instead of another list of generic AI tools, here are some prompts worth keeping: 1. Challenge my thinking “Act as a commercially-minded business adviser. Here is the decision I am considering: [decision]. Challenge my assumptions, identify what I may be overlooking and tell me what information I need before deciding.” 2. Find the real problem “Here is the issue my business is experiencing: [issue]. Do not give me solutions yet. Ask me the questions needed to identify whether this is a people, process, proposition, pricing or leadership problem.” 3. Review my numbers “Here are my key business figures: [figures]. Identify the three numbers I should be paying closest attention to and explain what they could be telling me about the health of the business.” 4. Improve a decision “I am considering [option A] versus [option B]. Compare them based on revenue, margin, risk, operational complexity and long-term business value. Tell me what I may be underestimating.” 5. Stop me becoming the bottleneck “Here are the decisions and tasks I currently handle myself: [list]. Identify what the business could reasonably operate without me doing and what needs to remain with me.” The prompts are useful. But the bigger lesson is this: AI cannot replace business judgement. It can make that judgement faster, sharper and easier to test. The quality of the output will usually depend on the quality of the thinking you put into the prompt. Use AI to interrogate your decisions, not just to produce more content.

The best candidate doesn’t always look like the best candidate. That’s one of the traps businesses can fall into when hiring. We create an idea of what the “right” person looks like, their experience, communication style, personality, even how they present themselves. Then we assess candidates against that picture. But the real question should be: Can this person do what the role actually requires? The difference may sound small. It can have a big impact on who gets through your hiring process. Watch a real example of a case like this. It could make you rethink the way you hire.