Alitura Group

August 24, 2026 | 4 min read

What I Taught New Entrepreneurs at WWBIC About Where AI Actually Belongs

When I stood in front of 40 new entrepreneurs at the WWBIC Small Business Academy in Wisconsin, the question was not which AI tools to use. The question was: where do I even start?

WWBIC, the Wisconsin Womens Business Initiative Corporation, runs a Small Business Academy that helps new entrepreneurs build the foundations of a real business. I was invited to teach a session on AI and modernization for small business owners.

What I found in that room changed how I think about who needs this message most.

The Real Audience for AI Implementation

The entrepreneurs at WWBIC were not tech founders. They were people starting hair salons, cleaning services, food businesses, consulting practices. Real businesses with real customers and real operational challenges.

Most of them had heard of AI. Some had tried ChatGPT for a blog post or a social caption. But none of them had a system for using AI in their daily business operations.

That is exactly where most small business owners are on AI adoption. They know AI exists. They do not know where it fits.

What I Taught Them

I did not teach them about AI tools. I taught them about where AI belongs in a business that is still being built. That is the core of AI strategy for small business.

Here is the framework I shared:

1. Start with the thing that costs you the most time. For most new entrepreneurs, that is customer communication. Answering the same questions over and over. Following up with leads. Sending appointment reminders. AI can handle all of this if you set up the structure first.

2. Document one process before you automate it. Pick one thing you do every day and write down every step. Not a fancy SOP. Just the actual steps. Once it is written, you can see where AI can help and where it would just add confusion.

3. Use AI to extend your reach, not replace your judgment. AI can draft your emails, but you decide what to say. AI can suggest pricing, but you set the strategy. AI can organize your data, but you interpret it.

What Surprised Me

The biggest surprise was how quickly these entrepreneurs understood the concept of revenue leaks. I did not have to explain it. They already knew where their money was going.

One woman ran a cleaning business and told me she was losing clients because she could not respond to messages fast enough while she was on job sites. Another had a catering business and was missing orders because she was too busy cooking to check her phone.

Both of them had the same problem I had at Select Auto Parts. Revenue walking out the door because there was no system to catch it.

The Lesson for Every Operator

AI is not just for tech companies or big operations. It is for any business where the owner is the single point of failure for communication, decisions, or follow up.

If you cannot step away from your business for a day without losing customers, you need a system. AI can be part of that system. But only if you build the structure underneath it first.

That is what I taught at WWBIC. Not tools. Structure.

Natasha Broxton is an award winning CEO, entrepreneur, speaker, and AI consultant based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She is the founder and CEO of Select Auto Parts and Sales and founder of Alitura Group, providing AI consulting and training for small business owners.

Alitura Group | Operator-led AI modernization and systems strategy | alituragroup.com