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A free guide by Mariah Brunner ↗ INSTAGRAM ↗ TIKTOK

5 AI Businesses
You Could Build Today

Zuckerberg says the real power of AI is building things that used to need a whole team. Here are five real businesses you could start this week without an engineer or funding.

In August, Mark Zuckerberg (I used to work for him at Meta) published an essay with a line I can’t stop thinking about. He wrote that "invention, not automation, will be the greatest contribution of superintelligence."

Most people use AI to write emails and save ten minutes. The bigger move is using it to run something people pay for, the kind of business that used to need a team, money or years of experience. None of these are get-rich-overnight. You still do the reps. For a beginner, a service beats a product every time, because you can test it fast and sell it before you have an audience.

The 5 Businesses

01

Be The Local AI Person

Become the go-to AI person for small businesses in your town, like the dentist, the gym or the boutique. You build the AI systems that run their business, like an agent that answers and qualifies every lead, one that books appointments, or one that drafts proposals.

Who pays: local owners who know AI matters and need help using it well. In Goldman Sachs’ latest survey of its small-business program graduates, 86% use AI but only 15% have it fully built into their core operations. (Fortune) That gap is your job.

Build it with: Claude and Claude Code.

How to price it: get in the door with a paid in-person workshop, then offer the best-fit owners a monthly retainer as their on-call AI person.

First move: build a few agents for your own life first, then run my full playbook in Be the Local AI Person.

02

A Niche Newsletter Or Channel You Own

Pick a narrow niche you’d happily nerd out on every day. AI helps you research and draft, and you bring the taste and the point of view. Publish consistently on a newsletter, TikTok or YouTube.

Who pays: sponsors and affiliate partners once a small loyal audience trusts you. Later, that audience buys your own offers.

Build it with: Claude or ChatGPT.

Reality check: this one compounds slowly, so pair it with a service for cash now.

First move: pick one niche and publish ten pieces before you judge it.

03

A Done-For-You Content Service

Run the content for a brand or creator, like blog posts, emails, captions or ad copy. AI makes you fast, and you bring the taste and the final edit. They pay for the finished result, not the tool.

Who pays: small brands and busy creators who need output and have no time.

Build it with: Claude or ChatGPT.

How to price it: a monthly retainer for a set number of pieces, so you both know exactly what’s included.

First move: make a sample week of content for one niche and show it to three businesses in it.

04

One Productized AI Service

Sell one deliverable as a flat package. Think AI product photos for online shops, headshots, LinkedIn and resume rewrites, or SEO articles. One thing, one price, one simple page, so it’s easy to buy and easy to deliver.

Who pays: people who want a finished result, not another tool to learn.

How to price it: do the math before you launch. At $150 per resume rewrite, 10 clients a month is $1,500.

First move: choose ONE deliverable and one price. Don’t offer a menu yet.

05

Teach AI To People Who Feel Behind

You don’t need to be an expert. One real step ahead is enough. Run a workshop, a small group, or 1:1 sessions helping people use AI in their day job. Teaching is how you get paid while you learn.

Who pays: professionals and small teams who feel behind.

Build it with: Claude and a simple screen-share.

First move: teach one free session and write down what confused people. Turn that into a paid workshop.

Pick Yours In 10 Minutes

Paste this into Claude or ChatGPT. It picks the one business that fits your life and plans your first week, so you’re not stuck choosing.

Pick My AI Business
You are a practical small-business coach who helps beginners start AI-powered service businesses. Be honest, specific, and skeptical of anything that sounds like a get-rich-quick plan. Here are the 5 options I'm choosing between: 1. Local AI person: build AI systems (lead agents, booking, proposals) for small businesses in my town, starting with a paid workshop and moving to monthly retainers. 2. Niche newsletter or channel I own, paid by sponsors, affiliates and my own offers later. 3. Done-for-you content service for brands or creators on a monthly retainer. 4. One productized AI service (one deliverable, one flat price). 5. Teaching AI to people who feel behind (workshops, small groups, 1:1). About me: - Skills and past jobs: [fill in] - Hours per week I can give this: [fill in] - How soon I need income: [fill in] - People I already know or can reach (industries, local businesses, followers): [fill in] - What I enjoy and what drains me: [fill in] Steps: 1. Ask me up to 3 follow-up questions if something important is missing. Then wait for my answers. 2. Score each of the 5 options from 1 to 5 on: fit with my skills, speed to first paying client, and how much I'd enjoy it. Show a table. 3. Pick ONE and explain why in 3 sentences. 4. Name a specific first customer type (e.g. "independent dental offices within 10 miles") and one offer with a starting price I can test. 5. Give me a 7-day plan, one task per day, each doable in under 2 hours. Day 7 must be asking at least 3 real people to buy. Rules: no hype, no income promises, no paid tools I don't need yet. If my situation makes all 5 a bad fit, say so and tell me what to do first instead.

Honest Take

I’m not selling you a one-prompt-to-riches pipe dream. Every one of these is a real business, which means real clients and real delivery. The barrier used to be money and a dev team. Now it’s whether you pick one and start. Pick ONE, land one client, then get better.

Want more service-based ideas? See my 10 AI side hustles making real money. And before you commit, gut-check demand with my 3-step idea validation workflow.