New Tips or Tools To Share

[TCSlaguna]

Hey everyone,

Just wanted to start a conversation. Does anyone have a new business tip or tool to share?

Using AI to plan your social media posts?

Create any smart home automations for the store?

Find new software to streamline processes?

The one I have to share is the Photoroom iOS app. Beyond background removal, it has resize with generative fill. I have used it not only for product photos but to edit Service Provider headshots (generative fill recreates their shoulders very well 😅). 

Share your new tips and tools below!

[ehflower]

I use ai to write plant care instructions and descriptions

[ascoach]

I will have to try the Photoroom app for product photos.

I've been using AI to help out with customer artwork.  We do custom screen printing/embroidery, and I get a lot of screen shot, canva or hand drawn ideas.  It has saved me a ton of time by uploading it to AI and having it start the creation process for the artwork.  That way I am not spending hours recreating artwork.

I do like the new Manager Bot Pulse page.  A quick breakdown that is easily to view and understand of how your business is doing.

[rtfulk]

I used Photoroom for years, but then they started trying to add AI into everything on the app and I think it sorta lost it's way from the core app.

[TCSlaguna]

Yeah, sometimes it does stuff without you asking 😅

[rtfulk]

I am currently testing the waters with local AI residing on my MacBook. 

The first is loading a video and having it analyze it, then break it down into 30-45 second shorts/reels with captions.  The AI model is about 3.5GB, It can process a 10 minute video in under a minute. I still have to make a few tweaks, but it is getting better.

The second is running another AI model running locally on my Mac. It's about 30GB and it is designed to take a photo of our clothes and put an AI model  wearing it. It's a work in progress, training it. so far the image I upload does not end up with the image the AI model is suppose to wear. Below is my phot process.

First photo is an image of our clothing.

Second  photo is how it is suppose to render.

Third photo is what my local AI returns.

As you can tell I still have some work to do with it, but I have learned running a local AI is a lot faster than uploading and I have more control over the AI model.

.

[TCSlaguna]

Looks like it needs a little more work. It will get there though. Good luck!

[rtfulk]

Thanks, it's been a chore training it, I still have a way to go.

[doc_choc]

Smart lights, sockets and camera's for the shop.

• Smart socket, the Coffee machine is warmed 30 mins before the door opens up ready for the first customers and is never accidently left on over night.
• Lights, we have indoor and outdoor lights, as the seasons changes these could accidently be left on over night. Not anymore, all on timers with season adjustments for daylight savings.
• Cameras are great also, not only from a security point but also to check certain equipment out of hours. For example we have a soft serve ice cream that undergoes a daily evening pasto during the wee hours. If the machine isn't filled correctly or isn't set in the correct mode it won't pasto over night so the morning shift would not be able to use for 5-6 hours until pasto is completed. Camera looking straight at this. The was also an instance when the lid on the soft serve was left up, so when it went to pasto it could not reach the correct temperature as the water was driven off the hopper mix. Next morning no pasto and a right old mess of caramelised mix to clean out...never again with the camera

There is a minor investment required but this is massively offset with the energy saving and reduction in downtime.

[doc_choc]

As for AI, we use the Adobe AI a little for images...it has its moments of madness, so you have to keep an eye on it but great for creating seasonal content and marketing collateral for in store and newsletters...I'd be a little worried if my bag was graphic design or illustrating 😬

[DinaLRosenberg]

our customers loathe all things AI- so we're really trying to be careful with how we use it.. 

[rtfulk]

Here is another project I've been working on. Thumbnails for YouTube, I call the app Thumbify. Everything to make thumbnails online is a subscription service or you have to take the time and build the whole thing yourself in photoshop or canva. If you upload a photo, iof yourself or someone else, the photo never looks like the person. This is my attempt at making an app. In my app you upload a photo of yourself and the app will remove the background automatically, but not change the person in the photo.

I am taking the simple approach, drag your background image in, then your subject image. You can add text and I have also set it to where you can use the fonts on your Mac. you can change the font color, make it straight, arched or wavy. You can adjust the subject size, brightness and saturation. 

After you generate the thumbnail, you can change the background, subject and text on the fly. Next step is adding AI locally on your computer, meaning no internet connection to make thumbnails. The AI module will not be big, it will mainly analyze the the imagines and make them better if needed, I also plan on adding a prompt to so you can extra text, maybe a logo, the sky will be the limit. I am just on version 0.95 and right now I am running on a command line in terminal with Python.

Below is a photo of how it looks now, with a thumbnail of Tammy for her social media channels. The thumbnail will export at 1280x720 suitable for YouTube thumbnails.

[indianathomas]

We've been using Claude code to build our own apps.  Will save $30,000 this next year canceling many of the software that we subscribe too.

There are two apps in particular we're developing:

1) Invoice-Sync = Lot's of apps already do this, but very few can scan a Walmart, Instacart, Sams Club, US Foods, Sysco, and classify them into the appropriate chart of accounts which syncs to Quickbooks online.

2) UseFroot.com = F.R.O.O.T. — Framework for Routine Operations & Organizational Tasks.  This app will be a game changer for many QSR, Restaurants, and Food Tucks.  This app links with Square and does everything that Square won't.  Some features include:

1. Sales Goals, Budgets, Yearly forecasting.
2. Shift communications between opener, mid, closers.
3. Training checklists with videos, files, and everything needed to onboard a team member.
4. Dedicated employee training, note to files, staffing messages.
5. HR Documents with signing including employee handbooks, key agreements, etc.
6. Compliance reports.

We're currently testing out now in our 10 locations.  Will keep you posted as things progress.