Articles

Notes on automating a small business

Which parts of a small business are worth automating, and which are not. Written when I have something worth saying.

  1. Why I assume I will change AI providers

    6 min read

    Changing a model, changing a provider and changing a vendor that holds your data are three different sizes of problem. Only one of them is expensive.

    • vendor-swap
    • proxy-layer
    • llm
    • limits
    • cost

  2. What a Braintree to Stripe migration actually costs

    8 min read

    A Braintree to Stripe migration took us four to five months, plus two or three more of fixing. Here is where that time actually goes.

    • vendor-swap
    • ecommerce
    • cost
    • limits

  3. The tool I worry about is the one that deletes an enquiry

    4 min read

    A tool that deletes an enquiry fails with no error and no trace. Here is why the destructive action is narrow and everything else is reversible.

    • inbox
    • leads
    • limits
    • photography

  4. I built seven MCP servers in evenings. It proves little.

    4 min read

    I built seven MCP servers for my own work in about ten evenings. Working alone removed every cost that makes the same job slow in a company.

    • mcp
    • tools
    • cost
    • limits

  5. Moving Claude Max to a Team plan: API keys are the work

    5 min read

    I moved from Claude Max to a company Team plan by hand. Chats were the easy part. Regenerating API keys and replacing them everywhere was the work.

    • claude
    • tools
    • cost
    • limits