A simple guide to AI for sole traders

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A simple guide to AI for sole traders

It is already working for sole traders

AI tools have quietly become one of the most useful things to land in the small business world in a long time. They are not just for big companies with tech teams. They are being used every day by people working on their own, doing exactly the kind of work freemeup clients do: drafting reports, managing client communications, preparing for meetings, and keeping on top of the admin that never quite goes away.

The New Zealand government launched its first national AI Strategy in July 2025 with a clear message: AI has the potential to add enormous value for businesses of all sizes, and sole traders are no exception. You wear every hat in your business, which is exactly why having a capable, always-available assistant in your corner is worth knowing about.

Reference:

A few tools worth knowing about

There are a lot of AI tools out there. Here are three that are genuinely useful and accessible right now:

  • Claude (anthropic.com/claude). A conversational AI assistant that is particularly good at writing, analysis, and working through complex problems. It handles long documents well and is straightforward to use without any technical setup.
  • ChatGPT (chat.openai.com). The most widely known AI assistant. A good general purpose tool for drafting, summarising, brainstorming, and answering questions. Free tier available, with a paid option for more capability.
  • Microsoft Copilot (copilot.microsoft.com). If you are a Microsoft 365 user, Copilot is being built directly into the apps you already use, including Word and Outlook. It can draft emails, summarise documents, and help you work faster without switching between tools. If you are a freemeup technology client, you are already on Microsoft 365 Business Premium, so this is worth exploring.

Embrace techno-joy

It is completely understandable if AI feels like one more thing to figure out. Here are a few things that might be putting you off, and why none of them are the hurdle they seem:

  • “I will have to learn a whole new skill.” Not necessarily. You talk to AI tools the same way you would type a message to a colleague. There is no coding, no setup, and no manual to read. Both Claude and ChatGPT have free tiers you can try right now with nothing to install.
  • “It is probably expensive.” The most capable tools have free versions that are genuinely useful. Claude and ChatGPT both offer free access. Microsoft Copilot is being progressively built into Microsoft 365. Paid plans exist for heavier use, but most sole traders will get plenty of value from the free tiers to start.
  • “I do not think it is relevant to my kind of work.” This is the most common concern, and it is rarely true. If you write emails, prepare documents, review contracts, manage client relationships, or do any kind of reporting, AI can help. The tools do not need to understand your profession to help you communicate better, work faster, or catch things you might otherwise miss.
  • “I will have to copy and paste everything manually.” You do not. Most AI tools allow you to export or download your conversation or the content they generate, in formats like Word documents or PDFs, so you can save and use the output directly without copying from the screen. You can also import documents to most AI tools for a quick analysis and review option.

Let's get started!

Pick one of these to try this week. Each one takes less than five minutes.

  1. Summarise your emails from yesterday. Open Claude or ChatGPT. Copy and paste the text from your unread emails into the chat window. Type: “I have pasted my emails from yesterday below. Please summarise the key points and flag anything that looks urgent or needs a response today.” Review what it gives you and act on anything it has flagged. You are still making the decisions, but the triage is done for you.
  2. Check a stock image before you use it. Before you use a photo in a social media post or on your website, open an AI tool and type something like: “I want to use a photo I found on [website name] in my business marketing. Can you help me check if I am allowed to use?” It will walk you through what to look for. Many people use images without realising the licence does not cover commercial use. This is an easy one to get wrong, and an easy one to check.
  3. Draft a tricky email. Think of an email you have been putting off because you are not sure how to word it. Open Claude or ChatGPT and type: “I need to write an email to a client letting them know [brief description of the situation]. I want to sound professional and clear, but not abrupt. Give me a draft to work from.” Edit the draft in your own voice and send it. The hard part is done.

Once you are comfortable with those, here are some other things worth trying:

  • Prepare an agenda, questions and talking points for a client meeting
  • Summarise long documents – extract key deliverables and due dates
  • Write the first draft for a proposal, technical report, paper, information request etc.
  • Check your business website for issues, e.g. your privacy statement is applicable.
  • Draft a social media calendar – posts, blogs, stories, and email ideas.
  • Search for relevant news to use for marketing info in your blogs, posts etc.
  • Search for recent changes to industry practices so you are kept aware of best practices

Note: AI tools can be a useful first filter for questions like these, but they can also get things wrong. Always treat the output as a starting point rather than a definitive answer, and check anything legally or professionally significant with a qualified adviser.

Not just for work

One last thing worth mentioning. AI tools are just as useful outside of work as they are in it. I have personally used AI to get advice on caring for backyard chickens, figure out why my dog kept getting me up in the night, and how to recover from a late night netball match. It is like having a knowledgeable friend available at any hour who is happy to help with whatever you are dealing with, no matter how big or small.

At freemeup, we are here to help sole traders make the most of running their own business. Technology is a big part of that. If you would like to know more about how our technology service can help you work smarter, visit our technology page or get in touch with us.

If you missed last month’s blog about getting the most out of the Investment Boost scheme, read it here.

Disclaimer: All content provided on freemeup.nz is for informational purposes only and is intended as a general information resource regarding the matters covered. It is not tailored to cover specific situations and circumstances and shouldn’t be taken as direct professional advice. Freemeup makes no representations to the accuracy or completeness of the information found on this site or found by following any links on this site and will not be held liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the use of this information. 

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Protect your business from cybercrime

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Protect your business from cybercrime

person near apple keyboard and cup with coffee beans

Is it time for an IT review?

For many people starting their own business, especially small businesses, they usually know an IT person. A person who can set them up with a Microsoft business account on their home laptop. If this sounds like your business IT setup, then read on. 

At the end of March, I attended a cyber resilience session hosted by IT Works and presented by Outfox. It was a very interesting and engaging session that provided a fantastic introduction to cyber resilience and awareness. After attending the session, I started thinking about how a blog about this topic would be helpful for sole traders.

If you are interested, you can complete a free Cyber Health Check with Outfox to see how your business stands up to cyber risk.

What damage does cybercrime cause?

In 2015, it was predicted that by 2020 cybercrime would cause losses of approximately 5 trillion dollars worldwide. This prediction increased to 10.5 trillion dollars by 2025. However, thanks to a bumper year in 2023, cybercriminals stole 12 trillion dollars. At the start of this year, the World Economic Forum has upgraded their predictions and believe that by 2027 cybercrime will cost the world 23.4 trillion in lost GDP.  It would appear that cybercrime is a problem. 

Cybercrime is advancing technologically at an exponential rate. To mitigate those advances, awareness of cyber breach methods can help significantly reduce the risk of attack. The consequences of a breach are multiple, such as: 

  • Loss of reputation and confidence in the business 
  • Regulatory penalties and breach notification expenses 
  • Loss of sensitive/confidential data 
  • Downtime for investigation, cause, and implementing repair 
  • Restoration costs 
  • Hardware damages 
  • Loss of digital assets and IP 

Will I be targeted?

Some may assume that cyber criminals target big organisations and government departments directly. However, an easier approach is to target a family member, friend or colleague who doesn’t work in the organisation. Access can occur instead through a backdoor approach using this method, by using a much less secure network to piggyback in through an unsuspecting email or insufficiently protected remote connection.

Not all cyber criminals aim for large organisations. Why go for organisations that have multiple levels of security? It is much easier to access a small business with potentially minimal security and target their invoicing system or blackmail them with stolen data or client harassment.

Cyber threats are much more likely to succeed if the person using the IT system and devices is unfamiliar with the risks.

 

DO YOU KNOW HOW TO RECOGNISE A BREACH?

  • Are your devices acting differently, taking longer than normal to open tabs, run software, etc.? 
  • Have you noticed suspicious and/or unusual sign-in attempts?
  • Have you noticed unusual email activity such as deletion, forwarding, etc.? 
  • Have you clicked on any suspicious links asking for login details and provided those details? 
  • Have you checked your credit record lately for signs of identity theft?  

 

DO YOU KNOW WHAT DO DO IN THE EVENT OF A BREACH?

  • What will you tell your clients, suppliers, etc.?
  • How will you replace your hardware?
  • Do you have your data backed up ready to reinstall?
  • Do you know how to tell when the breach happened – hackers can be on your network for some time before they launch a visible attack. If you reinstall a backup, you must be confident that it was from before the hacker entered your systems. Otherwise, you could just cause the same problem to occur again.

Passwords are like underwear. Don’t let people see it, change it very often, and you shouldn’t share it with strangers.

Chris Pirillo

How do I keep my devices and accounts safe?

⁉️ Do you maintain strict password discipline such as: 

  • Suitable password length and complexity, i.e. a minimum of 14 characters and a passphrase that only you can remember, e.g. Thed0g1swhite&dumb.
  • Different passwords for each account you need to access?
  • Updating passwords regularly?
  • Not sharing login details with others?
  • The use of MFA, SSO, passkeys, password managers? 

 

Check out these ownyouronline.govt.nz links below for more help:

 

⁉️ Do you have your IT system setup so that:

  • Your devices are regularly updated with the latest operating system versions?
  • Have automatic updates turned on?
  • Have a comprehensive backup plan? (Microsoft OneDrive and Google Drive are not backup systems, they are collaboration platforms.)
  • You use a Microsoft Premium business account rather than Standard to give you greater protection against cyber threats? 
  • You can remote wipe your devices in the event of theft?
  • You have BitLocker encryption on your laptop, so if it is stolen, your files can’t be accessed?
  • Your social media settings are set to private, and you don’t put too much personal information on your accounts.

 

⁉️ Have you undertaken cyber awareness training so that:

  • You can recognise scams, hacks, phishing attacks, etc.?
  • You are wary of invoices sent out of context or in a different format from normal (i.e. sent direct from an email address rather than the usual accounting software)?
  • You check the details of email addresses – the spelling is correct; the domain name is valid (@govt.nz for example). 
  • You recognise unusual patterns regarding email activity, such as work emails sent to an alternate email address, e.g., your personal email address?
  • You recognise suspicious links asking for updates to login details?

 

⁉️ If you work from a home office do you:

  • Still use the password your home Wi-Fi router came with? Change it. 
  • Use personal devices for work? Downloading free games can increase the risk to your devices and home network; this goes for others using devices that all share the same Wi-Fi network. 
  • Provide your home Wi-Fi details to visitors regularly? If you don’t know what they are downloading or playing on their devices, this also increases the risk of exposing your network to breaches. 
  • Use a lot of smart tech – smart fridge, doorbell, etc.? Do you know the country of manufacture? Paying for a cheaper alternative could increase the risk of exposing your home network to a breach or increased risk of information theft.

 

⁉️ If you travel a lot for work then: 

  • Don’t use available free Wi-Fi, use a hotspot instead. 
  • Be wary of hotel guest Wi-Fi and safes.
  • Know how secure your clients/suppliers’ Wi-Fi connection is before accessing.
  • Be wary of airport charging stations for your devices.
  • Don’t let your devices out of sight whenever possible.

 

And finally…going on holiday?

  • Leave your work devices at home. If you use your mobile to check emails, you can temporarily remove your mailbox from your phone and put it back on when you return. It is a holiday after all 😀

How can freemeup help?

Freemeup has joined forces with the experts at IT Works to provide you with a comprehensive suite of packages that reduce the risk of cyber threats by providing: 

💻 Microsoft 365 Business Premium License – access to essential tools like Teams, Word, Excel, and Outlook. Plus, seamless syncing of bookmarks and search history with Microsoft Edge.

💻 Advanced cyberthreat protection and device management capabilities which are not provided with the Microsoft 365 Business Standard license.

💻 1 TB of cloud file storage through OneDrive and the option to use SharePoint for organised and collaborative file storage. 

💻 Advanced Endpoint Protection with Microsoft Defender for Business, delivering comprehensive antivirus, malware protection, and more for your devices. 

💻 Comprehensive Backup Solutions – off-site backup services encompassing your Microsoft account, email, OneDrive, SharePoint, Teams, AND your desktop and My Documents folders.

💻 The option to enroll in Microsoft 365 Azure, providing benefits such as ensuring the configuration of the above services is automatically deployed to your device.

💻 Business continuity setup – offsite backup and reinstallation of data if needed, plus free use of a loan device while you wait for your replacement device to arrive.

💻 Device and account monitoring to reduce the risk of cyber attacks.

💻 The option to join a free online cyber resilience session and a basic IT review to see how your business stands up to cyber risk.

💻 BitLocker encryption key storage and remote wiping if your device gets stolen. 

💻 A dedicated freemeup email address. Existing business mailboxes can also be added to the freemeup account.

💻 Document templates so you can start sending out letters, reports, and more straight away.  

💻 A working hours support desk for when you need help – setting up SharePoint sites, inviting users, or any other questions or concerns you have.

💻 Removal and return of all data, including emails, in the event you cancel the Technology service.

💻 All this for just 1% (plus GST) of your income.

*Service Agreement applies

So, why not take advantage of all the hard work we have done? You can be up and running faster, doing the work you love, and not worrying about sorting out your tech stuff! 

Technology – freemeup

Disclaimer: All content provided on freemeup.nz is for informational purposes only and is intended a a general information resource regarding the matters covered. It is not tailored to cover specific situations and circumstances and shouldn’t be taken as direct professional advice. Freemeup makes no representations to the accuracy or completeness of the information found on this site or found by following any links on this site and will not be held liable for any losses, injuries, or damages from the use of this information. 

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