This is the first episode of Businessing as a daily show—Monday through Thursday at 11am Central. Pat opens with a challenge: We're one month into 2026. Is your business still Groundhog Day? Or did you actually do something about those promises you made to yourself?

The lead story explains why this show exists. This is not a business show—it's a show for people who RUN a business. That's different. Business owners are isolated, exhausted, wearing the same sweatpants for three days, trying to keep up with technology that's moving faster than they can track. This show is a lifeline, not another obligation.

Pat then demonstrates the difference between AI chatbots and AI agents with a real example. A chatbot answers questions and you copy/paste. An agent actually DOES things. Over the weekend, Pat asked Claude Cowork to reorganize his YouTube channel. It researched best practices, logged into YouTube, deleted old videos, created playlists, optimized SEO—all while Pat walked on the treadmill. An hour later, done.

Three Idea Slam questions get rapid-fire answers: (1) Haven't taken vacation in 5 years? You didn't build a company, you built a job. Fix your delegation and raise your rates. (2) Competitor copying everything? You're not different enough. Become one-of-one. (3) Spouse doesn't understand your work hours? They probably have a point—review your behavior and explain the business model.

Fun closer: February 2026 is a perfect calendar month—starts on Sunday, ends on Saturday, four exact weeks. Oddly satisfying.

Genhead - https://www.genhead.com

Enji - https://www.enji.co/sboc

This episode delivers a wake-up call for small business owners: AI agents are no longer a future promise—they're working right now. Pat reveals his new morning workflow where a 3-minute briefing with an AI agent results in half his administrative work completed by the time he returns from the gym.

The FreshBooks State of Small Business survey dropped this morning showing 76% of businesses are doing fine despite economic uncertainty. But the finding about work-life balance getting harder? Pat predicts that problem will be solved within months as AI agents take over the administrative grind.

A direct warning goes out to service-based businesses: if you're a VA, copywriter, graphic designer, or customer service provider, it's "go time." The defense of "AI can write but it sucks" is rapidly becoming obsolete. The solution? Specialize. Pick an industry vertical and own it.

The episode also explores quirky business habits through a viral TikTok about a woman moving buttons between jars daily. Pat shares his own: strict morning structure, investment in good coffee, removing email from his phone, and celebrating wins with Taco Bell and chocolate shakes. These personal quirks matter because AI agents need to know how YOU work to work for YOU.

Two Idea Slam questions get answered: What would you do differently in year one? (Say yes faster, sell more, stop hiding in busywork.) And how do you find time for new ideas? (Validate first, sell one before building, get paid to develop it.)

A bonus discovery: Pat started a LinkedIn newsletter yesterday and woke up to 344 auto-subscribed followers. LinkedIn's creator accounts automatically subscribe engaged followers to your newsletter.

Sponsored by:

Genhead - https://www.genhead.com

Enji - https://www.enji.com/sboc

Your customers are about to get paid. Bank of America projects $65 billion more in tax returns this year—up 18%—with the average American getting back $3,400. Pat lays out three promotional frameworks to theme your February social media around this windfall:

Return to Your Service: Go into your CRM, find past customers, and offer them a discount to come back by April 15th. Position it as using their tax return to reinvest in themselves.

Bye Bye Bills: Offer annual plans so customers can pay once and eliminate a monthly bill. Frame it as one less thing to worry about for the entire year.

Free: Position your product as a bucket list item that's now "paid for by the IRS." Play on the splurge mentality that comes with found money.

The rapid-fire Idea Slam covers four common questions: How to prepare for emergencies (cash reserves, digital products, proper insurance), where to start with AI if you're not techie (pick Claude, ChatGPT, or Gemini and talk to it daily—plus start building SOPs now because AI agents are coming), how to get reviews without annoying customers (ask at the transformation moment, use a two-link strategy), and what to do when a hot lead ghosts you (change the contact method, try audio messages, and never stop reaching out).

Pat also shares his takeaway from a chamber networking event: 90% of the room weren't owners. That's why the SBOC is different—it's a curated community where owners connect with owners, no salespeople allowed.

(00:00) - Welcome & Weekend Recap

(04:00) - News: Super Bowl LX & Winter Storm Fern

(08:30) - Small Business Spotlight: Doris Jones

(09:30) - Lead Story: $65B Tax Return Windfall

(16:00) - Three February Marketing Frameworks

(17:00) - Sponsor: Gen Head

(18:30) - Idea Slam: Emergency Preparedness

(22:00) - Idea Slam: Getting Started with AI

(26:00) - Idea Slam: Getting Reviews Without Being Annoying

(29:00) - Idea Slam: What to Do When Leads Ghost You

(33:00) - Sponsor: Enji

(35:00) - The Greatest Job Title & Why SBOC is Different

(39:00) - Close & Upcoming Schedule

Daily shows start February 2nd, Monday through Thursday at 11am Central.

tax returns, small business marketing, February marketing, AI for small business, SOPs, AI agents, customer reviews, Google reviews, lead follow-up, sales persistence, emergency preparedness, business insurance, networking, SBOC

Subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SmallBusinessOC?sub_confirmation=1

Join the SBOC: $9/month community for owners only - https://www.smallbusinesscommunity.com

The small business growth playbook has always been simple: get busy, hire help, scale up. But what if that playbook is broken?

In this episode of Businessing, Pat Miller presents four alarming reasons why hiring doesn't work the way it used to:

**1. The talent gap is real.** 89% of business owners report they can't find qualified applicants. Not "people don't want to work"—people don't know how to do the work.

**2. Skills-based hiring means you're the trainer.** Employers are hiring for personality and training for skills. That's great—unless you don't have time to run a training department.

**3. AI is destroying critical thinking.** Gartner reports a trend toward "AI-free assessments" because employees can no longer think their way out of a paper bag without ChatGPT.

**4. Engagement has collapsed.** Employee engagement dropped from 88% to 64%. Six out of ten days they care. Four out of ten? They don't.

Pat's solution: **Stay solo as long as you can.** Build automation. Create SOPs. Use contractors for narrow tasks. And when you finally do hire, accept that you're now in the training and development business.

**Also in this episode:**

- A three-part time management framework for overwhelmed solopreneurs

- Why you should schedule tasks by due date, not importance

- Permission to forget everything that's not due today

- Historic winter storm warning (feet of snow, exploding trees, -50° windchill)

- The ChatGPT image follow-up: Brad's robot is NOT happy

**Perfect for:** Solopreneurs considering their first hire, small business owners drowning in to-do lists, and anyone wondering if they should scale—or stay lean.

Episode Description:

We've entered a second pandemic—and this one's invisible. A new study reveals that 9 out of 10 social media posts are now AI-generated, leaving entrepreneurs more isolated than ever. That's exactly why Businessing exists.

In this premiere episode, we break down what the Vail ski resort crisis teaches us about recession-proofing your business, share a no-budget marketing framework that actually works, and explore the "2026 is 2016" nostalgia trend you can capitalize on right now.

Key Takeaways:

1. Move your offerings toward "pain in the present" to survive any economy
2. Build a customer treadmill, not a marketing strategy
3. Real human connection is becoming a competitive advantage

Timestamps: (00:00) Welcome to Businessing (02:00) News: Tariffs, Markets & Minneapolis (05:00) Lead Story: The Social Pandemic (90% of posts are AI) (11:30) Business Resilience: What Vail Teaches Us (14:00) The 4 Buying Motivators Framework (20:00) Real Examples: Jeweler & Travel Advisor (22:00) Sponsor: GenHead (23:00) Idea Slam: Marketing with No Budget (28:30) Trend Watch: Nostalgia Marketing (2026 is 2016) (31:30) Does Your AI Secretly Hate You? (34:00) Outro & What's Next

Resources:

1. GenHead CRM: genhead.com
2. Join the Small Business Owners Community: https://www.smallbusinesscommunity.com

Businessing airs live Monday-Thursday at 11 AM Central starting February 2, 2026.