Solopreneurs are increasingly embracing AI tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and specialized platforms to handle administrative tasks, allowing them to focus on the personalized, creative aspects of their businesses that drive growth. Despite initial resistance, many solo business owners have discovered that strategic AI adoption enables them to scale without hiring additional staff.
Kim Magaraci, founder of KGM Travel Design, initially resisted AI, believing that travel recommendations from ChatGPT couldn’t match personalized advice. However, she now uses AI for analytics, report compilation, and client briefs, freeing her to focus on the vendor and customer relationships that differentiate her business. “It’s getting harder and harder to deny the time-saving aspects,” Magaraci explains, noting she’s embraced AI “in order to run a successful business and grow this business into what I want it to be.”
Seneca Connor, founder of The Bag Icon accessories brand, uses Nano Bana and other AI products for photo and video editing, saving up to $2,000 per monthly photo shoot. The time savings have allowed her to design more original bags and curate additional products while reducing marketing costs. As a result, The Bag Icon saw more than 20% year-over-year profit increase last year, despite tariff impacts.
Gloria Hebert of Aybear Services uses ChatGPT to create educational client worksheets that previously required one to two hours, instantly generating them instead. This efficiency allows her to focus on analyzing financial data—the core of her bookkeeping business—which she keeps private from AI systems. The extra time also enables her to organize networking events and community education classes, which have directly generated new clients.
Lisa York, owner of Sell More Stuff, an email marketing business, achieved a 33% conversion rate in 2025 by maintaining personalized, story-led emails written without AI. However, she delegates tech support, research, and marketing strategy brainstorming to ChatGPT, allowing her to craft the engaging copy that keeps customers opening her emails.
The common thread among these entrepreneurs is using AI for administrative and technical tasks while preserving the human touch in core business activities. Connor is even experimenting with a digital clone video avatar to explain new products, though she emphasizes that “all thoughts, ideas, and suggestions—those are my own.” York notes a shift in attitude among solopreneurs: “People aren’t scared of it anymore.”
Key Quotes
I don’t think you can get good advice asking ChatGPT for an itinerary. It’s antithetical to everything I stand for.
Kim Magaraci, founder of KGM Travel Design, initially expressed strong resistance to using AI for her core travel planning services, believing that personalized human expertise couldn’t be replicated by AI tools. This quote illustrates the initial skepticism many solopreneurs felt before discovering AI’s value for administrative tasks.
It’s getting harder and harder to deny the time-saving aspects. In order to run a successful business and grow this business into what I want it to be.
Magaraci later acknowledged how AI has become essential to her business growth strategy. Despite her philosophical objections to AI-generated travel advice, she recognized that using AI for administrative work allows her to focus on the personalized relationships that define her brand.
It’s building community that’s missing in the big brands.
Seneca Connor of The Bag Icon explains how the time saved by using AI for photo and video editing allows her to invest in customer communications and relationship-building. This quote captures the competitive advantage solopreneurs gain by using AI to free up time for authentic human connection.
People aren’t scared of it anymore.
Lisa York, whose email marketing business targets other solopreneurs, observes a significant shift in attitudes toward AI adoption among small business owners. This reflects growing acceptance of AI tools as practical business resources rather than threats to be feared.
Our Take
This article reveals a sophisticated understanding of AI adoption emerging among solopreneurs: AI as enabler, not replacement. These entrepreneurs have identified the sweet spot—using AI for scalable, repetitive tasks while doubling down on the irreplaceable human elements of their businesses. The reported results (20%+ profit increases, 33% conversion rates) validate this approach and suggest that strategic AI boundaries may be more effective than wholesale adoption.
What’s particularly noteworthy is how these business owners maintain clear ethical and practical boundaries: Hebert won’t feed client financial data into AI systems, York never uses AI for her signature storytelling emails, and Connor insists all advice remains authentically hers despite using AI avatars. This bounded AI strategy addresses privacy concerns while maximizing efficiency gains.
The shift from fear to pragmatic adoption York describes signals a maturation in how small businesses view AI—not as existential threat but as competitive necessity for growth without scaling headcount. This trend could accelerate as AI tools become more specialized and affordable for the solopreneur market.
Why This Matters
This article highlights a critical trend in how small business owners are strategically adopting AI to compete with larger companies without sacrificing the personalized service that defines their brands. The solopreneur segment represents a significant portion of the economy, and their successful AI integration demonstrates that the technology’s value lies not in replacing human expertise but in amplifying it by eliminating time-consuming administrative work.
The 20%+ profit increases and 33% conversion rates reported by these businesses show tangible ROI from AI adoption, countering fears that AI primarily benefits large corporations. This democratization of AI tools levels the playing field, allowing solo entrepreneurs to achieve scale previously requiring full teams.
Moreover, these entrepreneurs’ approach—using AI for backend tasks while maintaining human connection in customer-facing activities—offers a blueprint for sustainable AI adoption across industries. Their emphasis on privacy (not feeding client data into AI) and authenticity (never using AI for core creative work) addresses key concerns about AI implementation. As AI tools become more accessible and affordable, this model of strategic, bounded AI use may become standard practice for small businesses seeking growth without compromising their unique value propositions.