John Cradden says that before a business even thinks of immersing themselves in AI, they need to master the digital basics.
If it feels like the pressure on small businesses like yours to adopt AI tools in a meaningful way has become too hard to ignore, then looking at the supports and information around the term ‘digital transformation’ can be a good place to start to help your business to catch up.
Maybe you’ve tried to embrace the AI imperative but just haven’t managed to make it work. If that’s the case, the chances are it’s because you haven’t got the digital basics right.
“SMEs that embrace digital transformation are better positioned to adapt to market changes, streamline operations, and respond to customer demands more effectively”
More specifically, you need to look at putting in place a ‘minimum viable digital foundation’ to ensure you have just enough to allow you to experiment with anything as advanced as AI tools.
To do this, looking up the term ‘digital transformation’ will show you the way to embrace digital tools and processes that can help you stay relevant, competitive and resilient in a fast-changing marketplace.
Digital transformation is about incorporating digital technology into all aspects of your business so that you can make smarter decisions using data, improve customer experiences, and scale up operations more efficiently.
It’s more than just adopting new software or automating tasks – it involves rethinking business models, strategies, and company culture to thrive in the digital age.
SMEs that embrace digital transformation are better positioned to adapt to market changes, streamline operations, and respond to customer demands more effectively.
Ireland’s National Digital Strategy highlights the crucial role digital transformation plays in strengthening the economy, particularly among SMEs.
You can find more information about digital transformation elsewhere on ThinkBusiness.ie and other sources, but to get right down to the brass tacks, what represents a minimum viable digital foundation before you can even think of using AI.
Website
The first step is a decent, clear and functional website. This is your online shop front, illustrating clearly your value proposition in a matter of seconds. It should provide a strong incentive to a potential customer to take action, whether it’s book a place, buy a product, get in touch with a member of staff.
It should also have a basic SEO (search engine optimisation) functionality as this website is where ads, social media and referrals get primarily directed to. It should be supported by a decent back-end that will ensure it loads quickly and is adapted for mobile.
Online discoverability
While a website that works well enough to be a smooth conduit for leads and referrals is important, you can enhance your discoverability online by setting up a Google business profile to turn people who find you on Google search and Maps into new customers. Make sure your information is accurate (even down to hours, phone, location), and encourage satisfied customers to leave good reviews.
CRM
A simple cloud-based CRM system from the likes of Hotspot, Pipedrive, Zoho CRM, and Monday.com that allows you to track every enquiry or customer, add notes and history and issue follow-up reminders can help you make sure you don’t miss a lead.
Communications
Relying on a Gmail address looks amateur and, combined with slow replies will ensure you strangle potential deals at birth. Invest in a domain email setup that matches your company name with a shared inbox or ticketing system that can be accessed by multiple staff to ensure a consistent and transparent response process.
Payments and invoicing
Providing online payment options, even if you don’t strictly sell products or services online. With that, automatic invoicing and payment tracking will ensure that you don’t miss a payment or forget to invoice a customer.
Digital marketing
When it comes to digital marketing, whether it’s search engine optimisation (SEO), social media, paid ads or email marketing, you don’t have to do it all at once. Just pick one, implement it, and then when you’re ready or budgets allow, pick another and roll that out too, but don’t overstretch yourself. It could well happen that one or two strong and reliable channels could sustain things for longer than you think.
Analytics
One of the great things about digital is how easily you can track activity, whether it’s website traffic or conversion rates. You can use free options like Google Analytics to start with, but once your business has reached the next level, spending money on good analytics tools like is more likely to be worth the investment.
Security
We’ve all experiencing it at some level or another as individuals, but security breaches or data loss can spell real trouble for your business and could even strike a fatal blow. Protect your business by investing in tools like a password manager, 2-factor authentication for system sign-ins and regular backups on local servers or the cloud.
Workflow tools
Platforms like Google Drive, Trello and Notion can help you manage the chaos that can come with rapid growth. This can include file storage, task or project tracking, and the management of internal documentation.
Once you’ve set up the above to create your minimum viable digital foundation, that is the point when AI starts to make sense but, again, don’t go all in. Focus on the simple stuff, the light automation of repetitive tasks. Examples here could include auto-replies to customer enquiries, appointment booking and invoice reminders.
For more information on digital transformation and supports to help you go digital, click here
Getting started with AI
SMEs should approach AI as a practical productivity tool rather than a big-bang transformation, starting with low-cost, easy‑to‑use solutions that solve real day‑to‑day problems.
Tools like Microsoft Copilot, Anthropic’s Claude, Google Gemini or OpenAI’s ChatGPT can help draft emails, proposals and marketing copy; CRM systems with built‑in AI (such as HubSpot or Zoho) can automate follow‑ups and prioritise leads; accounting platforms like Xero or QuickBooks use AI to streamline invoicing and cash‑flow tracking; while tools such as Calendly, Zapier or Power Automate can quietly automate bookings, reminders and repetitive admin.
The key is to introduce AI gradually, embed it into existing workflows, and set clear guardrails around data, accuracy and human oversight – using AI to save time and reduce friction, not to replace judgement, relationships or core expertise.
Top image: Photo by ThisisEngineering on Unsplash
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