Start with AI

How to start using AI in your small business

Start small. Open a free Claude or ChatGPT account and give it one real task from your week, such as replying to three customer enquiries. If the result is useful with a quick edit, pick the repetitive job that costs you the most time and automate that next, yourself or with help. This page walks you through each step, for Australian owners, in plain English.

Written by Jenn Yang, founder of On Autopilot. Last updated 03/10/2026.

Pick a track

Three honest doorways in.

Track 1

I'm completely new

10 minutes

You've heard the noise. You haven't tried Claude or ChatGPT. You want a quiet walk-through that doesn't assume anything. Open a free account, try one real prompt about your business, and decide if any of this is worth your attention.

Start here →

Track 2

I want to install Claude Code

20 minutes

You want Claude Code, the version that works with your own files and tools, running on your computer. Windows and Mac both covered, with the common gotchas noted.

Install track →

Track 3

I want AI running in my business

10 minutes to decide

You don't want to learn AI; you want it running parts of your business. Pick the guide closest to what you do, one of six fixed-price AI systems, or a free 30-minute audit where we do the mapping for you.

Business track →

Track 1 · I'm completely new

What should I try first with AI?

One real task, about ten minutes. You do not need to read anything else first.

Open a free Claude account

Go to claude.ai and sign up. Use a Google or email login. Free tier is fine, no credit card needed. (Or use ChatGPT at chatgpt.com if you already have one. Both work for this test.)

Try one real prompt about your business

Don't ask it to "write a poem about Melbourne". Ask it something you'd actually pay a person to do. Three examples that work, copy and paste:

For a cafe / restaurant: "Write me three Instagram captions for my Melbourne cafe's new winter menu (mushroom toast, hot chocolate, dumpling soup). Each caption should be 30-50 words, include a hook line, mention we're on Sydney Road Brunswick, and end with two hashtags."
For a tradie: "I'm a plumber in Sydney. Write me a polite SMS to send to a customer 48 hours after I finish a job, asking for a Google review. Don't be pushy, mention the work I did (replacing a hot water system), and make it sound like I wrote it."
For any service business: "Here are three customer enquiries [paste yours]. For each one, write a draft reply in a friendly Australian tone, including pricing for [your service], availability this week, and a call to book a 15-minute call. Don't sound like a chatbot."

Decide

If the output is something you'd actually use (maybe with a 30-second edit), you've passed the test. AI is going to be part of how you work. From here, the question is: what else do you stop doing manually?

If the output is poor, the fix is usually in the prompt: give it more context (who you are, who the customer is, what good looks like) and an example. Our guide to Claude for non-developers shows how.

Want more depth on Claude?

Read Claude for absolute beginners, which covers setting it up safely, what to ask first and the prompts worth keeping, then Claude vs ChatGPT for Australian small business if you are choosing a paid plan.

Done with the basics?

Pick a business track →

Track 2 · Install Claude Code

How do I install Claude Code?

Claude Code is Anthropic's AI assistant for your terminal (Windows PowerShell, the Mac Terminal or VS Code). It can read and edit your files, run commands and connect to your tools, which is what turns chat into automation. Installation takes about 20 minutes. Anthropic's official setup guide is the reference if anything below changes.

Open a terminal

On Windows, type "PowerShell" in the Start menu and open it. On a Mac, press Cmd+Space, type "Terminal" and press Enter. You will paste one command into it.

Install Claude Code

Anthropic's recommended native installer. On a Mac (or Linux), run:

curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash

On Windows, in PowerShell, run:

irm https://claude.ai/install.ps1 | iex

When it finishes, open a new terminal window and run claude --version. A version number means it worked. If you get stuck, our Windows and Mac install walkthrough covers the usual problems.

Run Claude Code

In your terminal, navigate to a folder where you keep your work (e.g. cd ~/Documents on Mac or cd C:\Users\YourName\Documents on Windows). Then run:

claude

The first time, it asks you to sign in through your browser with your Claude account (a paid Claude plan or an Anthropic API account). Once you are signed in you will see a prompt. Type a request in plain English and press Enter.

Install the VS Code extension (optional)

If you use VS Code, open it, click the Extensions icon (left sidebar), search "Claude Code", install. Now you get the CLI plus IDE selection-tracking, in-editor chat, and one-click "explain this file". Setup is automatic once both are installed.

Write your first CLAUDE.md

In any folder you work in, create a file called CLAUDE.md. Inside, write a short note about who you are, what you do, your preferences. Claude reads this at the start of every session. Example:

# My business

I run a Melbourne-based cafe. We use Shopify for our retail merch
and Square for in-store payments. Our tone of voice is warm,
casual, slightly cheeky. We never use exclamation marks.

When suggesting code, prefer TypeScript over JavaScript.
When suggesting prompts, write them in Australian English.
Currency is always AUD unless I say otherwise.

Claude reads this at the start of every session in that folder, so it starts with your context instead of from zero. Before you connect it to real business tools, read is Claude Code safe for business?

Now you're set up. Where next?

The full Claude Code library →

Track 3 · AI in my business

How do I get AI running in my business?

Three ways, depending on whether you want to do it yourself, buy a proven system at a fixed price, or have someone map it for you.

DIY

Guides by business type

Free guides for specific Australian business types (trades, clinics, real estate, accounting, retail and more), naming the software you already use and what to automate first.

Find your business type

Or skip ahead to our short free playbooks: 10–30 minute guides for one outcome each (Google review replies, tradie quotes from photos, and the first 10 prompts to try).

Productised

A fixed-price AI system

Six productised systems from $497 setup plus a monthly fee, live in days. Or a Quick Start build: $497 one-off for one automation of your choice, built and handed over. No monthly fee to us; running costs such as SMS, Claude API or an automation platform are billed to your own accounts.

Compare the six AI systems

Talk to us

Free 30-minute audit

A 30-minute video call with Jenn Yang. We map where your time goes, name the first thing worth automating and give you a fixed AUD price. No obligation either way.

Book the free AI audit

Plain English

What do the AI terms mean?

You don't need to know any of these to get started. But if you've heard them and wondered what people are talking about:

LLM (large language model): The thing behind Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini etc. A model trained on a lot of text that can write, summarise, code, reason.
Prompt: What you type to the AI. Better prompts = better outputs.
Context window: How much information the AI can hold in working memory at once. Bigger = it can read longer documents.
Token: Roughly 3/4 of an English word. It's how AI providers bill (per million tokens in + out).
MCP (Model Context Protocol): The standard way AI tools plug into your existing apps: Gmail, Xero, Shopify, Slack, your CRM. Released by Anthropic in 2024, now industry-wide.
Agent: An AI system that takes actions on its own (reads, writes, sends, books) in a loop, not just chats back.
Hallucination: When the AI confidently states something that is wrong. Less common than it was, but still a real risk for anything regulated, which is why a person should check anything that matters.
System prompt: The instructions you give the AI at the start that shape every reply: your tone, your business, what's off-limits.

Full glossary at /glossary/. Q&A library at /questions/.

Common questions

Questions people ask before they start

How do I start using AI in my small business?

Open a free Claude or ChatGPT account and give it one real task from your week, such as drafting replies to three customer enquiries. If the result is useful with a quick edit, list the repetitive jobs that eat the most time and automate the biggest one, yourself or with help. Do not start with a course or a big project.

Claude or ChatGPT: which should I try first?

Try both on the same task; both have free tiers and the comparison takes ten minutes. We build on Claude because it writes well and Claude Code can work with your files and tools, but many small businesses end up using both.

What does AI cost a small business in Australia?

Trying it is free. Paid individual plans for Claude or ChatGPT are a monthly subscription per person (see each provider's pricing page). Having a system built for you costs more: with On Autopilot, a Quick Start build is $497 one-off, productised AI systems start from $497 setup plus a monthly fee, and managed AI is $1,500, $2,000 or $4,000 a month (AUD, ex GST).

Do I need to know how to code?

No. Most of the early value is in chat: drafting replies, summarising meetings, writing captions, tidying spreadsheets. Claude Code, which works with your files, takes an hour or so to get comfortable with, and you still do not need to write code yourself.

What are MCP, context windows and tokens?

MCP (Model Context Protocol) is the standard way AI tools connect to apps such as Gmail, Xero or Slack. A context window is how much information the AI can hold at once. A token is roughly three-quarters of a word, and it is how AI providers bill. You do not need any of this to get started.

What should I do after the basics?

Three options: follow an industry guide and do it yourself; buy one of the six productised AI systems if your need matches one; or book a free 30-minute audit with On Autopilot to find the first thing worth automating.

Stuck?

Talk it through with Jenn.

If you have worked through this page and it still does not click, book the free 30-minute AI audit. Jenn will look at your business with you and name the first thing worth automating, with a fixed price if you want help. No pitch, no obligation.

Book a free AI audit

Or see every On Autopilot price.