4 Ways AI Can Improve Your Business

Julie Starr • October 16, 2023

There is no denying that AI is changing the world around us, and the benefits can be massive for businesses. AI allows companies to expand their capabilities without stretching themselves too far and can be instrumental in growth and improved service.


As the sector grows thanks to improved capabilities, only 27% of small businesses say they currently use AI, while 44% plan to adopt it reasonably soon, while 77% of all companies use AI to help them get ahead.


If you're on the fence about how AI can help your business, then looking at the following benefits can help you understand how AI could be critical to your continued success.


Increased Personalization

These days, consumers want a more personalized service. They don't wish to receive generic offers or "hello valued customer" emails. They want to experience a customized service that is tailored to their needs and wants. AI can help you to determine data sets that can segment your customers and deliver them the service they need. It can analyze patterns in their browsing history, purchase habits, and demographics, and in the right circumstances, AI can even help improve healthcare delivered to patients. So whether you use ai for email marketing or target customers with abandoned carts, it can be an excellent way of providing consumers with the personal service they are looking for.


Improved Efficiency

AI allows businesses to remove the more time-consuming tasks from employees to have them completed at an increased rate with a higher degree of accuracy. AI unlocks the ability for companies to work at volume, something which isn't always possible with human employees. This means tasks get completed faster, more accurately, and reliably while human workers get to use their talent for other tasks worthy of their skill set, not the mundane ones.


Greater Capabilities

Businesses can unlock AI to help them see new opportunities within the scope of their sector to help support growth and expansion and increase capabilities. An AI for business model expansion can allow companies to unlock data intelligence and analytics to utilize toward further development and find instances to improve their current capabilities. Whether this is increasing output, developing new products, or moving into new areas, AI can support your plans and give you accurate information to move ahead.


Increased Profitability

The reality is that the more your company is able to do, the more profitable it is. AI can be put to work in many parts of business operations, from risk management to personalization and supporting innovation, to name a few to help you achieve this objective.


As mentioned above, once you deploy AI into your operations, you can explore your options to increase efficiency, reduce costs, and increase capabilities. This, in turn, will support an increase in profitability.


AI can offer many benefits to businesses and be utilized in various aspects for improved services, functions, and efficiency. How you use AI within the realm of your company is entirely up to you, but there are numerous benefits to taking the plunge and seeing what it can do for you. Be it to improve efficiency, increase productivity, support marketing, or anything else, AI can be our gateway to bigger and better things.

5 Everyday Items That Can Quietly Boost Your Brand

By Julie Starr • July 17, 2025
The best branding doesn’t always come from big campaigns or expensive graphics. Sometimes it’s the smaller stuff that leaves the biggest impression. Things people actually use, touch, or carry with them. That’s where your brand can quietly make its mark without needing to shout about it. If you’re only focusing on social media and business cards, you’re leaving a lot on the table. Here are five overlooked ways to get your name out there that feel natural, useful, and more personal. Thank-you slips If you’re already sending out orders, there’s no reason not to include a short thank-you slip. You can easily get these made through any decent online print shop , and they’re usually pretty cheap to run off in small batches. Just a simple note that says thanks, maybe with a reminder to follow you online or a cheeky discount code for next time. It’s quick, thoughtful, and makes the whole order feel more finished. Customers notice that kind of detail, especially when everything else they buy online comes with zero personality. You don’t need a complicated design either. Just something clean with your logo, a message that sounds like you, and maybe a social handle. The point is to give them a reason to come back or remember your name without it feeling forced. Branded zip pouches If you sell physical products, offer services, or run events, small zip pouches are surprisingly effective. Think of the kind you’d use for stationery, receipts, or travel bits. You can get your brand printed on the side and hand them out with purchases or include them in welcome packs. People keep them because they’re actually useful. They get tossed in handbags, school bags, or glove boxes and your logo just keeps turning up. Cleaning cloths for glasses or screens This one works brilliantly if you’re in tech, health, beauty, or anything involving screens or eyewear. A simple microfibre cloth with your branding on it can go a long way. Everyone needs one. Whether they use it for glasses, a phone screen, or their laptop, it’s something they hang onto. It’s not the kind of thing people throw away, and that means your name sticks around too. Receipt envelopes You might already use little envelopes to hand over receipts or business cards. Branding those envelopes is a small change that makes a big difference. Instead of someone getting a scruffy bit of paper in a plain sleeve, they’re handed something that feels a bit more finished. You can even add a message inside. Doesn’t need to be anything dramatic. A simple “thanks for visiting” or “see you next time” is enough to add a personal touch. Wet wipes or mini hand gels If your business is in hospitality, food, or anything hands-on, branded wet wipes or pocket-sized hand gels are surprisingly popular. People actually use them, especially at festivals, food stalls, pop-ups, or kids’ events. They end up in handbags or cars and stick around longer than you think. They don’t scream “marketing” either. They’re practical, and when done right, they make your business feel thoughtful. That’s what good branding does, it shows you’ve thought ahead.

How Student-Led ‘Energy Audits’ Are Cutting School Costs (and Lighting the Way Forward)

By Julie Starr • July 14, 2025
What happens when students stop waiting for adults to fix things and start conducting their own energy audits? Money gets saved. The lights get switched off. Data gets analyzed. And a quiet revolution in sustainability begins—inside schools that once overlooked their own inefficiencies. Across the globe, student-led energy audits are proving that change doesn't always need to come from a policy shift or a major capital budget. Sometimes, it begins with a clipboard, a spreadsheet, and a group of curious minds asking: Why are the hallway lights on at noon when sunlight floods the building? The Energy Detectives These audits aren’t science fair projects. They’re rigorous investigations, often done in collaboration with facilities staff, local environmental nonprofits, or even engineering mentors. Students go from classroom to classroom measuring electricity usage, checking for phantom loads , and identifying where heat is escaping in winter or air conditioning is leaking in summer. One high school in Ontario saved over $12,000 a year after its Grade 11 physics students ran an energy audit and suggested simple changes—LED upgrades, motion sensors in bathrooms, and smarter heating schedules. They didn’t just propose ideas. They pitched them with spreadsheets, thermal images, and payback timelines. It worked. Learning That Pays Off—Literally Unlike textbook learning, these audits blend real-world math, environmental science, economics, and persuasive communication. Students aren’t just learning about sustainability. They’re doing it. And the savings add up. From dimming overlit hallways to reprogramming HVAC systems that run all weekend for empty buildings, students are surfacing blind spots that administrators often overlook. In some districts, their findings are influencing energy policy. Elsewhere, the audits have inspired school boards to hire sustainability coordinators—often alumni of the student programs themselves. There’s something poetic about a school funding new books or laptops from money saved by students who found out the vending machines didn’t need to be plugged in 24/7. Why This Matters More Than Ever With education budgets tightening and utility costs rising, every dollar saved is a dollar that can go back into classrooms. And here’s where it gets interesting from a family finance perspective, too. If you’re a parent setting aside money for post-secondary savings, every bit of school efficiency helps. Fewer energy costs might mean more programming, better STEM facilities, or even bursaries. That raises a broader point: when families save for their children’s future, they often look into RESPs (Registered Education Savings Plans). And many wonder—is a RESP deduction available on my taxes? While contributions themselves aren’t deductible, the gains grow tax-free, and students often pay little to no tax when they withdraw the funds during school. A Movement Worth Replicating These audits aren’t just an exercise in environmentalism. They’re leadership labs. Students learn how to spot inefficiencies, speak up in board meetings, and make a business case for change. They don’t just flip switches—they shift mindsets. And they carry these habits into adulthood. The result? A generation growing up not only with climate anxiety, but also with tools to tackle it.