AI workshops for small business owners
Most AI advice is written for tech companies. This one is built for the owner who runs the register, answers the phone, and posts to Instagram at 11pm. Learn to hand the repetitive work to AI — starting the same week.
The AI Advantage: Automate, Streamline, Grow
Part 1 — AI 101. The foundations, plus the quick wins you can use immediately.
- Hosted with the LA BusinessSource Center (MCS)
- Presented by Thiago Avelar, founder of aiThiago
- Free to attend · recording sent to everyone who registers
- Interactive companion page with a prompt builder and downloadable recap
Six things you can use this week
Write prompts that work
The 4-part formula — Role, Task, Context, Format — that turns generic AI answers into copy that sounds like your business.
A week of marketing in minutes
Social captions, menu and service descriptions, flyers and promo emails, drafted and ready to edit.
Handle hard messages
Reply to a harsh review, a refund request or a no-show — professionally, in your voice, without it ruining your night.
Serve customers in any language
Natural Spanish, Armenian, Korean and more — not the word-for-word translation your customers can spot.
Cut the admin pile
Turn voice notes into task lists, build staff checklists, and compare vendor quotes in plain English.
Stay safe and credible
What never to paste into a public AI tool, how to catch confident-sounding mistakes, and where to keep a human in the loop.
Built for owner-operated local businesses
If you're wearing five hats and AI feels like one more thing you don't have time for — that's exactly who this is for.
How the session runs
Interactive throughout — live polls, live demos, and Q&A woven in rather than saved for the end.
- Where your time actually goes
A quick poll of the room, so the demos match the work you're actually drowning in.
- AI, demystified
What generative AI really is in plain English — and the difference between a chatbot and an AI agent.
- The one skill that matters
Vague ask versus specific ask, side by side. Then you write a real prompt for your own business.
- Live demos
Content creation, customer messages, and an AI-generated video ad built from nothing but a text prompt.
- Privacy, accuracy & ethics
The guardrails that keep AI from embarrassing your business.
- Your 3-step action plan
You leave with a written plan for this week, this month, and this quarter.
An interactive workshop you keep
Attendees don't just watch slides. They get a companion page they can return to any time — and it keeps working long after the session ends.
Live polls & quizzes
Answer from your phone while the workshop runs, and see how the rest of the room voted.
The prompt builder
Build a real prompt for your business and copy it straight into ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini.
Notes, questions & a prompt library
Take notes as you go, ask questions, and save the prompts you'll reuse. Pick up on any device with your study key.
A personalized recap PDF
One tap generates a take-home summary of the workshop plus your own answers, notes and action plan.
Thiago Avelar
Thiago is the founder of aiThiago, based in Sherman Oaks, where he builds AI tools and agents for independent local businesses across the San Fernando Valley and greater Los Angeles.
He works with owner-operated businesses every day — the kind where the owner is also the marketer, the scheduler and the person answering the phone. That's the perspective the workshop is taught from: no jargon, no hype, and a clear-eyed view of what AI can and can't do for a small business right now.
Why this workshop exists
The large chains already have AI working for them. Independent businesses deserve the same leverage without the corporate budget — and without being sold something they don't need.
Part 1 now, Part 2 next
Part 1 — AI 101
Understanding AI and the practical ways to use it in your business. Content, customer messages, research and admin. This is the session on August 27.
Part 2 — AI Automation
Hands-on strategies for automating tasks and workflows: AI that answers your phone, books appointments and follows up while you run the business. Dates announced to Part 1 attendees first.
Bring this workshop to your members
The workshop is available for chambers of commerce, business improvement districts, merchant associations, trade groups and business centers across Los Angeles — virtually or in person, and customized to your audience's industries.
Before you sign up
Do I need any technical experience?
No. It's built for owners with no tech background. Everything is taught in plain English, and every tool demonstrated has a free version that runs in a browser or on your phone.
How much does it cost?
It's free. The session is delivered in partnership with the LA BusinessSource Center, which provides no-cost business assistance to Los Angeles entrepreneurs.
What kinds of businesses is this for?
Independent, owner-operated local businesses — restaurants and cafés, salons and barbershops, retail shops, fitness and wellness studios, real estate and property management offices, and service businesses of all kinds.
Is the session recorded?
Yes. You get the recording plus the interactive companion page with every slide, the prompt builder, and a personalized recap you can download.
Is my business data safe if I start using AI?
The workshop covers this head-on. The core rule: never paste private customer or employee information — card numbers, Social Security numbers, health details — into public AI tools. You'll also learn how to catch confident-sounding mistakes and where to keep a human in the loop.
Will you try to sell me something?
The workshop is education, not a pitch. If you want hands-on help afterward, free BusinessSource advising is available and aiThiago works with local businesses directly — but you'll leave with skills you can use on your own either way.
Register for August 27
Free, virtual, 60 minutes. Everyone who registers gets the recording and the interactive companion page.
Come find out what AI can actually do for your business
Sixty minutes, no jargon, and a plan you can start on Monday.