What I'm Seeing#
A local business owner I work with told me about a conversation he'd just had with an acquaintance. The acquaintance asked if he'd share his company's data, saying there was big money in it and he could help get it sold. The owner wanted to know what I thought. We talked it through, and I realized this is going to become more common.
Then, a couple of days later, a story about a bankruptcy auction showed up in my newsletters and podcasts. This summer, Google won an auction for Spirit Airlines' old business data. Google bid $10 million. It includes emails, Teams messages, and other records, years of people doing their jobs. Google says it wants the material to train AI and build products.
So the question for me became: what is a pile of work records worth to someone who isn't in the business and wasn't there?
A buyer can get every email. What they can't get is the part that matters. The call that finally fixed a customer's problem. The meeting that took a new turn because someone challenged an idea and opened up a new way of thinking. The mistake somebody caught before it cost anything.
Now think about your own records. You can read them with the whole story in your head, all the lived context. And they hold something the process chart on the wall doesn't: what really happens. Not just the happy path, where everything goes right, but the exceptions, the workarounds, and the times a job went sideways and somebody fixed it.
That's priceless. This week in our Hawaiʻi Business Gym, I was walking a business through how its work runs today and how it could run. Ideas started popping up. One owner pulled out what we call her “parking lot” list, all the things she'd like to do someday. When we laid them against how her work could flow in the future, some of them fit right in without much extra work. She hadn't realized how close they were. That's what I love about this. AI isn't only about doing the same things faster. It can change what's possible, and your own records are a great place to start looking.
Quick Win#
Pick one job you do all the time, like quoting, scheduling, or following up with a customer. Now find the last time it didn't go the usual way. Look in your email, an invoice note, or a text. Write down two things: what went off track, and what you did to fix it.
That's an exception. You just documented a piece of your real process, and most businesses never write those down.
Try This#
Give your AI this assignment, using your own records:
Here are 15 subject lines from emails I sent last month: [paste them]. I run a [type of business] in Hawaiʻi. Sort each one into three piles: repeatable (the same steps every time), exception (something went off the usual path), or new (the first time I've done this). For the exceptions, ask me what happened and how I handled it. Then tell me which repeatable jobs a simple tool could take off my plate. Ask me up to five questions before you start.
No emails handy? Use calendar entries, invoice notes, or your replies to customer reviews instead. Take out customer names, phone numbers, and anything personal before you paste. Do not share client data with a public AI tool.
When it asks you questions, answer them honestly. That's where the real process comes out, and only you can tell it.
The Invitation#
Reply and tell me one thing on your parking lot list, the thing you've always figured would take more time, money, or people than you have. I'd love to hear it. We're all looking for ways to succeed together, so share away!
And if you're in Hilo, save the date. Hawaiʻi Business Gym Showcase Day is Thursday, November 19, from 3 to 5 PM at the Rose and Raymond Tseng Terrace at UH Hilo. It's open to the public. Come see what our fellow business owners have made to help their businesses. It might be a good way to start on the changes you've been thinking about, because they will have done it!
Aloha,
Michelle
Stronger Businesses. Stronger Hawaiʻi. Hawaiʻi Business Gym is a six-week Kealani Solutions cohort for Hawaiʻi Island businesses, built around one operational challenge per participant. Learn more at kealanisolutions.com/hawaii-business-gym.
Funded in part by the Hawaiʻi Technology Development Corporation (HTDC).
I draft with AI I have set up to write in my voice and to use only my company's verified facts. Then I edit, fact-check, and approve everything you read. Building workflows like this for Hawaiʻi businesses is what I do.
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