Opifer field notes / 01 · Free worksheet
Choose the
problem first.
Give AI a clear job before giving it a subscription. Find one bottleneck in your business and decide what is worth testing.
3-page printable PDF · Worked example included · No sign-up
Choose work that repeats often enough to observe.
Finish with a problem, an owner and a test.
Start with a real
business question.
Invoices going out late? Look at why they wait. Faster writing will still leave you chasing information if the job details are missing.
See the completed example: late invoices
A fictional service business. The figures are illustrative, and the target is not a promised result.
- 01 Name the recurring task.
- Preparing invoices after a service job is completed.
- 02 Find the exact point where it gets stuck.
- Job details arrive in several messages, with items missing.
- 03 Record how often it happens.
- Illustrative baseline: 10 invoices per week.
- 04 Measure the effect on the business.
- Illustrative baseline: 20 minutes per invoice, including chasing and checking.
- 05 Check whether the process needs changing.
- Collect the job details through one completion form first.
- 06 Give AI one specific job, if useful.
- Trial an invoice-description draft from complete job notes; flag missing details and never invent them.
- 07 Choose the information you can use.
- Use fictional job notes for the first test. Confirm data permissions before any real trial.
- 08 Name the person who checks the work.
- The owner checks each draft against the job record before using it.
- 09 Set a result that would make the trial worthwhile.
- Illustrative target: 12 minutes per invoice with no increase in errors. This is a test target, not a promised result.
- 10 Choose a small trial and a review date.
- After testing the new form, compare 10 similar invoices with and without AI assistance. Then keep, adjust or stop.
At 20 minutes each, 10 invoices take 200 minutes. A target of 12 minutes each would release 80 minutes a week. Time saved creates capacity; it is not automatically a cash saving.
This problem-first approach aligns with business.gov.au's guidance on introducing AI: identify the problem and check the tools you already have.
Your Problem-First
AI Worksheet
Use actual observations where you can. Label estimates. Your answers stay in this page and are not sent to Opifer. Download them before closing or refreshing.