The Limits of AI When Researching a Business

We’re all trying to figure out how Artificial Intelligence is going to impact our personal lives and our careers. Most business decisions, including whether to buy a franchise, start with an online search. More and more often these days, the search is started with a free version of AI. That might be a great place to start, but here are some of the limitations to be aware of:

Starting with an AI search for a business opportunity should not be Step One.

In my business model, Step One is understanding why and how you want to be a business owner. When I work with someone who is considering entrepreneurship, the conversation is really a series of questions. Asking the right questions and going deep for the answers will help someone decide if starting a business is even the right fit for them, before deciding which business to buy.

Most of us aren’t experts at creating AI queries yet, so the answer you get back won’t take into account some of the most important data points, such as your age, overall health and energy, lifestyle goals, financial position, and plan for retirement. Understanding these issues helps a broker make a much better match for a client. As of now, there’s no substitute for a human-to-human conversation.

Online listings for businesses tell a story, but it might not be the complete story.

When assessing online search results, you don’t have the full context of how the business is performing. You might be deluged with listings that offer some basic information, but as with any advertisement, from real estate to used cars, you need to filter the sales language out to get to whether it’s a good fit for you, personally, right now.

That takes human empathy, insight, and experience. We’ve all done an online search and suddenly found our feed full of advertising for the product – or dozens of adjacent products, some of which we definitely don’t need or want. That’s not so bad when it’s a matter of buying a power tool, but it’s not the best approach for making a huge life decision, like what business to buy. When you start by understanding your values and goals, you’ll be able to make clearer decisions and determine which opportunities make sense to pursue further. Most of us strongly prefer quality of options over quantity of options.

Entrepreneurs considering new business opportunities benefit from taking one step at a time, in the right order.

In other words, walk before you run. Being presented with 20 options that all sound equally good is a recipe for confusion at best and discouragement in many cases. Over the years, I have worked with many clients who started with an online search for business opportunities. In almost every case, they didn’t buy the businesses that showed up in the initial search.

That’s because they didn’t take the steps in the right order. Know yourself first. Understand what motivates you to get up and go to work each day. Some people want to own a business because they want to build a legacy, something they can be proud of. They may want to employ their children or leave them something of real value after they’ve retired. They may want to own a business so they can create jobs, build a team and a meaningful work culture, or mentor employees.

The “why” matters more than the “what.” If you’re feeling overwhelmed by the possibilities, consider taking a step back and starting with a meaningful conversation. You can take the first step with a free assessment here.