A short outline of what a small-cohort AI trial could look like for the rural retailers across your community partnership, based on our conversation with David and Roger.
Roger put it plainly on the call. A high street retailer doing two thousand pounds a week doesn't care about the technology. They care about whether they can add five percent to their margin or shave five percent off their costs. The moment the conversation turns technical, you've lost them.
At the same time, they're already stretched. Accidental entrepreneurs, as we called them. They just want to be a hairdresser, a shopkeeper, a cafe owner, without wearing every hat there is to wear. Being told to "try AI" sits on top of an already overwhelming week and goes nowhere.
What works, and what we see across the businesses we support, is starting with confidence and a handful of friendly faces. Not films about how the technology works. Not lectures. A small group of retailers you already trust, given the right tools, a bit of structure, and someone to check in. They become your first case studies, and then it spreads.
Here's a first pass at what a trial could look like. Nothing here is fixed. Read it, push back, and we'll shape it together on the next call.
We come in, sit with the group, have a coffee. No slides, no jargon. We walk through two or three things that are immediately useful to a small retailer, show them working on one of their own examples, and send them away with something concrete to try the same week.
Sixty minutes of self-paced, bite-sized video. Built for mindset first, practicality second. You can share the link with the whole community, not just the cohort, straight away.
We're soft-launching the platform this week. The free tier includes the confidence course, a starter set of AI agents and a library of workflows. For the trial we'll put a light wrapper on it so it feels like it belongs to your partnership, not ours. Gareth is building an entrepreneur-focused version of the platform next, which is where small retailers will live longer term.
Thirty minutes a month with the whole cohort together, either virtual or in person depending on what works. This is where we catch blockers early, hold the group gently accountable, and collect the stories that become case studies. The group format also means retailers learn from each other, not just from us.
Written up with the numbers, the quotes, the before and after. Yours to use to bring the next wave of retailers in, and to take back to funders like Horsham District Council and Coast to Capital as proof that this approach works.
While we finalise the trial, you're welcome to share this with any retailer who wants a starting point. Sixty minutes, self-paced, completely free.
Three outcomes, in rough order of priority.
By the end of the trial, each retailer should feel that AI is something they can reach for in a normal working week. Not intimidating, not for specialists, not a side project. A tool that sits alongside their till and their phone.
A margin up. A cost down. A marketing idea that brought in real footfall. We'll help each retailer pick their own metric at the kickoff so the win is theirs, not ours.
Something concrete enough to bring the next rural town on board, and to put in front of Horsham District Council, Coast to Capital and the British Chamber partners we're already working with.
We talked on the call about the lift that comes from treating this as a selective trial rather than a general offer. A few principles to hold as you draw up the shortlist.
The single most important filter. Retailers who are open to being shown something new, who don't bristle when a first attempt doesn't work, and who are warm in a room with others. Skill level matters far less than attitude. You'll know the people on your list who fit this.
The trial only works if retailers are happy to tell us what's working, what isn't, and what felt clunky. That honest feedback is what we use to improve what we do, and it's what turns this into a real case study rather than a polished one. They need to be comfortable being candid, both with us and with the rest of the cohort.
The ones who will pick up the phone, turn up on time and tell you honestly when something isn't working. Their goodwill is the engine of the trial.
A hairdresser, a corner shop, a cafe, a gift shop, an artisan maker. Different margins, different problems, different customer patterns. That variety is what gives the case study its weight.
Make it feel like the trial is something they're being chosen for, not drafted into. "We've been asked to select a handful of retailers for a trial, and we thought of you." That one framing shift changes engagement dramatically.
One hour at the start, then a thirty minute group check-in each month, plus whatever they choose to do in between. No hidden asks. Retailers respect clarity more than comfort.
A handful of things on each side. If we can move through these over the next two to three weeks, we could be running the kickoff before the end of May.
No. The trial is designed around outcomes, not tools. We'll show each retailer how to ask a question and get something useful back. That's the whole skill. If anyone wants to go deeper, they can, but nothing in the trial requires it.
One hour at the kickoff, then a thirty minute group check-in each month with the whole cohort, plus whatever each retailer chooses to do in between. The retailers who get the most out of it tend to spend an extra hour or two a week experimenting. We'll help shape that.
They can, without penalty. We'd rather have five engaged retailers than ten going through the motions. That's why we're suggesting a cohort of up to ten, to allow for natural attrition.
No. AI Potential is donating time, the platform access and the kickoff session. In return, the retailers help us shape the entrepreneur version of the platform through their feedback, and we all end up with case studies we can use.
The retailers keep everything they've built. If they want to continue on the paid version of the platform later, they can, but they're not tied in. No handcuffs, no exports locked up. If they walk, they walk with everything.
That's the intention. The trial is a first round. The case studies we build together are how we then bring the next five or ten retailers on, ideally with Horsham District Council or Coast to Capital backing the scale.