Solving small business problems so you can be more profitable, with less stress, and run a modern small business. It’s the last day of April, and Pat opens with the show’s new daily ritual: positivity, gratitude, the distraction of the day, and the one task you have to finish before you stand up from your desk.

Today’s distraction is performative busyness. Pat calls it a suit of armor. When somebody asks how the business is going and you say “I’m working really hard,” that’s not an answer. Nobody gets paid because they’re busy.

In the news: gas at $4.25 a gallon has crossed into cultural-tipping-point territory, and Pat shows you two ways to turn it into a promotion that cuts through. Then Big Tech Q1 earnings — Alphabet at $62.6B in profit, Meta at $26B — and the $650 billion that four companies are pouring into AI infrastructure this year. That’s more than it cost to build the entire U.S. highway system. Follow the money.

Two AI stories: 82% of small businesses are using AI, AI agents are handling 80–90% of customer inquiries, and the big tools are raising prices to $30 a month. Pat’s reframe: that’s a personnel line item, not a tech expense.

Plus: Mike Michalowicz on the show next Tuesday May 5 at 11 AM CT, Carolyn Jahnke joining the SBOC Conference for a partnerships session, ticket sales kick off May 11–13, and Stephanie Kern’s Sticker of the Month Club is officially live.

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