For sole traders and micro-businesses
Hand the repetitive work to an agent. Keep the decisions.
Direct answer
AgentShed publishes setup guides for sole traders who want to hand a repetitive chore to an AI tool and keep the decision. Each guide names the task, the tool, the steps, a cost in dollars and pounds, and what usually breaks. If it has not been run on a live account, the test log says pending.
AgentShed publishes setup guides with a task, a tool, the steps, a cost in dollars and pounds, and the things that usually break. No time-saved claims. If a guide has not been run on a live account, the test log says pending.
- 28
- Playbooks
- 0
- Invented stats
- UK
- Notes on each
Tasks people hand over
All tasks- Automate email triageFor a sole trader whose inbox is busy but not a shared team mailbox. Labels do the sorting. The agent only drafts.
- AI receptionist and missed callsFor trades and salons that lose work when the phone rings during a job. The agent takes a message. It does not run the diary.
- Automate invoice chasingFor anyone waiting on a handful of unpaid invoices. The books stay in the accounting tool. The agent only prepares a draft.
- Meeting and job schedulingFor quote visits, intro calls, and salon appointments. The calendar offers real gaps. The agent does not invent them.
- Receipts into bookkeepingFor the weekly receipt pile, not for filing a tax return. Figures get checked against the photo before they touch the accounts.
- Customer FAQ repliesFor shops, salons, cafes, and agencies that answer the same questions every week. The policy is the source. You still send the mail.
- Social post repurposingFor businesses that should post and do not, because writing three versions feels like a second job. Nothing is published automatically.
- Lead capture to a CRMFor trades, coaches, and small agencies whose leads arrive in five different places and then get forgotten.
- Weekly admin digestFor consultants, accountants, and agency owners who lose Monday to remembering what is outstanding. Three lines, not a dashboard.
- Research for quotes and suppliersFor quotes that depend on materials, subcontractors, or software you do not buy every week. Estimates from a model are not prices.
- Quote and estimate draftsFor a tradesperson who already has the measurements and the supplier prices in front of them. The draft fills a template. You check every line and you send it.
- Google review repliesFor a salon, cafe, or shop that means to reply and then does not. The draft is a prompt. The post button stays with the owner.
- Meeting notes into tasksFor consultants, coaches, and small agencies who leave a call with a vague sense of what was agreed. The recording is not the task list. You write the tasks.
- Data entry from PDFs and formsFor forms, supplier PDFs, and application packs that are not receipt photos. The receipt playbook is a different pile, with different columns. Both stop at a checked row.
- File organisationFor a Drive that has become a list of downloads. Three top folders, one folder per current job, and a rule that the model never receives the file.
- Weekly client reportFor consultants and small agencies who already know the week's results and lose the afternoon writing them up. The sheet stays the source.
Playbooks
Each one is a single way to do a job. Read the direct answer first. If it is not your situation, stop there.
- File organisationChatGPTOne sitting for the tree, then files as they arrive£0 on the free plan/mo
A client folder layout in Google Drive
Organise client files by creating a short folder tree in Google Drive and moving files yourself. ChatGPT can propose names from a list you type. Google's own help says names should be short and meaningful, and that you need permission to move a file. The free ChatGPT plan was listed on 25 October 2026. This has not been live-tested.
- Research for quotes and suppliersGrok15 minutes to save the prompt, then the time you spend checking linksabout £0–£23/mo
A Grok research brief for supplier quotes
Give Grok a fixed brief for supplier research: three companies, their websites, and a price only when that price is printed on the page you are given. Open every link before you trust a figure or put it in a quote. Estimates are not allowed. Not live-tested yet.
- Weekly admin digestn8n2–3 hours the first timeabout £0 licence if self-hosted, or about £17 for Cloud Starter/mo
A Monday admin digest with n8n
Use n8n to email you one Monday morning note: unread mail that needs a reply, the week's calendar, and invoices you have marked overdue. It is a reminder, not a manager. Start on n8n Cloud if you do not want to host a server. Not live-tested yet.
- Social post repurposingGoogle SheetsOne sitting to make the sheet, then a note when the work is done£0 on the free plan/mo
A month of social posts planned in a sheet
Plan social posts on a private Google Sheet: one row for the date, the network, and a caption taken from work you actually did. ChatGPT can draft the caption from that note. You publish it yourself. Buffer is the separate queue. The free ChatGPT plan was listed on 25 October 2026. This has not been live-tested.
- Research for quotes and suppliersChatGPTOne sitting per company, with the sites open£0 on the free plan/mo
A one-page lead brief from pages you opened
A lead brief is a short note on a company you are about to contact, built only from pages you opened. Companies House lists some company details for free. ChatGPT may arrange those notes and must mark anything without a page. It does not replace the supplier-quote guide. This has not been live-tested.
- Meeting and job schedulingChatGPT30–45 minutesabout £0–£15/mo
A scheduling agent that does not touch the calendar
Set up a free Google Calendar appointment page so people book a real gap in your diary, then use ChatGPT only to draft the reply that sends the link. Do not let an agent create events from incoming email without you. This has not been live-tested.
- Automate email triageGeminiAbout 30 minutes, once the button is visibleAbout £4 and £15 at the planning rate, from those US list prices/mo
AI email assistant in Gmail with Gemini
Help me write inside Gmail is an email assistant only if the account has it. Google lists it as global on eligible paid plans and US-only on unpaid personal Gmail. On 25 October 2026 the US plans page showed Plus at $4.99 a month and Pro at $19.99. You still send. This has not been live-tested.
- AI receptionist and missed callsSmith.aiAbout an hour, plus test calls£0 for 25 real calls, then about £2 a call/mo
AI receptionist for a small business with Smith.ai
Smith.ai can answer a small business line on a free plan of 25 calls, then stop. The script takes a name, a number, and the job. It does not quote a price or promise a visit. Confirm callers can reach a normal UK number before you divert. This page has not been live-tested.
- Meeting and job schedulingCalendlyAbout 45 minutes£0 on the free plan/mo
Appointment booking with a Calendly link
Appointment booking for a small business should be a page of real gaps, not a chat that invents a time. Calendly's free plan, on 25 October 2026, was one event type and one calendar. You send a link. An agent may draft that email. It must not create events. This setup has not been live-tested.
- Lead capture to a CRMZapier45–75 minutesabout £0, or about £15 if you need multi-step Zaps/mo
Capture leads in a sheet with a two-step Zap
Send a short enquiry form into a Google Sheet with a two-step Zapier automation, which fits the free plan. Reply yourself the same day. Add people to a marketing list only if they ticked a box that was not pre-selected. This has not been live-tested.
- Automate invoice chasingMake1–2 hours if the built-in reminder is not enoughabout £0, or about £7 if you outgrow the free plan/mo
Chase overdue invoices with Make drafts
Turn on the reminder feature inside the accounting software you already pay for. If that wording is too blunt, use Make to create Gmail drafts for overdue invoices and send them yourself. Do not let an automation mark invoices paid. This has not been live-tested.
- Customer FAQ repliesChatGPT1–2 hours, mostly writing the policyabout £0–£15/mo
Customer replies from a written FAQ, drafted in ChatGPT
Put your real refund, price, and booking rules into a ChatGPT Project and let it draft customer replies from that page only. You send the email. If the answer is not in the page, the draft should say you will check, not invent a policy. Not live-tested yet.
- Data entry from PDFs and formsClaudeAbout an hour for the sheet, then a file at a time£0 to try, or about £15 for Pro monthly/mo
Data entry from PDFs and forms with Claude
Data entry from a PDF or a form is a row you check, not a file the model files. Claude can read the page into a sheet. If a figure is unclear, the cell stays blank and the original stays attached. The row is not your statutory record. Nothing here has been live-tested.
- Weekly client reportClaudeOne sitting to write the instructions, then the Friday you already report£0, or about £13 and £15 at the planning rate/mo
Draft a weekly client report in Claude
Draft a weekly client report by pasting figures you already trust into Claude and sending the prose yourself. On 25 October 2026 Free was $0, and Pro was $17 a month billed annually at $200 up front or $20 monthly, before tax. The model must not invent a number. This has not been live-tested.
- Customer FAQ repliesChatGPTOne sitting with the questions written down first£0 on the free plan/mo
Draft the public FAQ page from questions you already answer
Write a public FAQ by listing questions customers have already asked and drafting answers only from rules you supply. ChatGPT can arrange that page. You publish it. The email-reply guide and the website chat come after the page exists. The free plan was listed on 25 October 2026. This has not been live-tested.
- Automate email triageChatGPT45–90 minutesabout £0–£15/mo
Email triage for a small Gmail inbox with ChatGPT
Use Gmail labels and filters to sort a small inbox, then a ChatGPT Project to draft replies you still send yourself. It fits a sole trader under about fifty messages a day. Do not give the agent permission to send. This setup has not been timed in a live test.
- Receipts into bookkeepingChatGPTOne sitting for the folders, then one photo at a time£0 on the free plan/mo
File receipt photos in Drive, without posting the books
File a receipt by putting the photo in a dated Drive folder and one checked line in a sheet. ChatGPT may propose the filename from the supplier, date, and total you type. Do not upload the photo. The free ChatGPT plan was listed on 25 October 2026 with no paid price in the text. This has not been live-tested.
- Meeting notes into tasksGeminiOne sitting, on a call that is not with a clientAbout £4 or £15 at the planning rate, from those US list prices/mo
Google Meet notes turned into tasks
Turn a Google Meet into tasks only if Take notes for me is on an eligible plan, then copy the actions you accept into a private sheet. On 25 October 2026 the US plans page showed Plus at $4.99 a month and Pro at $19.99. The Meet-notes ticks were blank in the saved text. This has not been live-tested.
- Google review repliesChatGPTAbout 30 minutes to write the rules, then a few minutes a review£0 to try, or about £15 if you pay for Plus/mo
Google review replies drafted in ChatGPT
A reply to a Google review should use the customer's words and your own policy, then be posted by you. ChatGPT can shorten the tone. It must not invent a visit, a refund, or a discount. Google's help page is how replies are managed. Nothing here posts overnight. This guide has not been live-tested.
- Meeting notes into tasksFathomAbout 45 minutes before the first call£0 on the free plan/mo
Meeting notes turned into tasks with Fathom
Turn meeting notes into tasks by recording only with consent, copying Fathom's free summary into a private sheet, and writing the actions yourself. On 25 October 2026, AI action items were a Premium feature, not part of Free. You still check any list a paid plan writes. This page has not been live-tested.
- AI receptionist and missed callsLindy1–2 hours, plus test callsabout £38–£60 before call minutes/mo
Missed-call answering for trades with Lindy
A Lindy phone agent can take a missed-call message for a tradesperson: name, number, address, and the job. It must not quote a price. Only buy a number if customers in the UK can dial it without an international code. This page has not been live-tested.
- Automate email triageChatGPTOne sitting, before you rely on it£0 on the free plan/mo
Outlook inbox triage with rules and a ChatGPT draft
Inbox triage in Outlook means rules that file newsletters and invoices, then a ChatGPT draft you paste and send yourself. On 25 October 2026 the ChatGPT pricing page listed a free plan and did not print a paid price in the text. This is the Outlook path. The Gmail guides are separate. This has not been live-tested.
- Social post repurposingClaude20–40 minutes for the first note, then lessabout £0–£15/mo
Repurpose one work note into social posts with Claude
Take one true note about finished work and ask Claude for a Google Business post, an Instagram caption, and a short LinkedIn post. You approve every word and you only use photos you have the right to publish. Nothing is auto-posted. Not live-tested yet.
- AI receptionist and missed callsSmith.aiHalf an hour to read the pricing tableabout £113 a month for 75 real calls/mo
Smith.ai answering service: what a call costs
Smith.ai's answering bill is a bundle of real calls, not a flat receptionist wage. On 25 October 2026 Free was $0 for 25 real calls and Pro started at $150 a month for 75. Extra calls and spam rules change the invoice. Read them before you divert. This buying guide has not been live-tested.
- Social post repurposingBufferAbout an hour to connect the channels and write the rule£0 on the free plan/mo
Social posts queued in Buffer
A social scheduler for a small business should queue posts you have already approved. Claude can turn one true note into a Google post, an Instagram caption, and a LinkedIn post. Buffer's free plan, on 25 October 2026, held three channels and ten scheduled posts each. You press publish. This has not been live-tested.
- Quote and estimate draftsChatGPTAbout an hour to make the template, then minutes a quote£0 to try, or about £15 if you pay for Plus/mo
Trade quote drafts with ChatGPT
A trade quote should start from notes you took and from supplier pages you opened, not from a model's memory of prices. ChatGPT can lay the lines into your template. It must leave a blank where you have no figure. You check VAT, the day, and the total, then you send it. This has not been live-tested.
- Receipts into bookkeepingClaude30 minutes to set up, then about half an hour a weekabout £0–£15/mo
Turn receipt photos into checked bookkeeping rows
Photograph each receipt and, once a week, ask Claude to read the date, supplier, and amounts into a row you check before typing it into your bookkeeping software. Always check the VAT. Do not give an agent write access. This has not been live-tested.
- Customer FAQ repliesTidioAn afternoon to write the page, then an hour for the widget£0 on the free plan, with Lyro's paid meter left off/mo
Website support chat with Tidio
A support chatbot for a small website should repeat a page you wrote and stop when the page is silent. Tidio's free plan was $0 for 50 billable conversations a month on 25 October 2026. Lyro's first 50 AI conversations were a lifetime allowance, not a monthly refill. You handle the rest. This has not been live-tested.
How a page is put together
- Direct answer. Forty to sixty words, written so a person or an answer engine can quote it.
- Steps you can follow. What to turn on, and what to leave off. Sending, paying, and filing stay with you.
- UK notes. GBP as a planning figure including how VAT usually shows up, where personal data goes, and HMRC only where it changes the setup.
- A test log. Version 1 is compiled from vendor documentation. The status is pending until someone runs it and writes down what broke.
Tool against tool
- Best AI email assistant for a small business: ChatGPT vs Gemini
ChatGPT beside Gmail, or Gemini inside it. Both draft. You send. Gemini's button depends on the plan and the country. No bake-off was run.
- Best AI receptionist for a small business: Lindy vs Smith.ai
Lindy or Smith.ai for a small-business phone: a tool you configure, or a hosted call bundle. No bake-off, and no winner from a score.
- ChatGPT vs Claude for customer replies
How to choose between ChatGPT and Claude when drafting customer replies from a written FAQ. You still send the email. No quality score was measured.
- Make vs n8n for a Monday admin digest
Make or n8n for one Monday email about mail, the calendar, and overdue invoices. Hosted free tier against a tool you can later self-host.
- Zapier vs Make vs n8n for a sole trader
Which hosted or self-hosted automation tool fits a one-person business chasing invoices and moving form rows, based on published prices and limits.
- Zapier vs n8n for beginners
A beginner choosing Zapier or n8n: a guided two-step Zap, or a canvas you may later host. Published limits only. No bake-off.
Questions
Has any playbook been tested on a live account?
Not yet. Every test log in this version says Pending first test. The steps were compiled from vendor documentation and checked against the pricing page on the date named in the sources.
Do you earn commission on the tools you name?
No affiliate link is published in version 1. If that changes, the link will use rel="sponsored" and a sentence next to it will say so. Sponsor slots stay hidden until there is a real commercial relationship.
Who is this written for?
Sole traders, freelancers, and micro-businesses. The reader can be anywhere. Each playbook has a UK notes box for pounds, UK GDPR, and tax only where it changes the setup.
A short note when a guide is re-tested
No drip course. Milo Cosemans writes when a playbook changes, a price page moves, or a step stops matching the product.