Skip to content
Miles Ketcham
All writing

The email back office: an AI business for local shops

Agents, Local business

Adapted from a thread on XView on X

Grok Bot can do work that small businesses will pay you for. If I were launching a business on top of it, I'd give local businesses a back office they can email.

They forward a request. Your bots draft the reply, the quote, the follow-up. You approve before anything goes out.

Orange gradient card with a simple smiling bot face and the headline "A back office they can email." Subtitle: The one-person AI business I'd launch.

The offer

The offer is one email address. Forward anything to it: a customer question, an invoice to chase, a review to answer. A bot drafts the response, and it waits for a yes.

The setup

The setup is one bot per job:

  • Inbox triage.
  • Quotes and invoices.
  • Reviews and follow-ups.

And one chief-of-staff bot that is the only one allowed to message you.

The rule that makes it sellable

Bots draft. Nothing sends without a human yes. That's the line that makes an owner comfortable handing over the inbox.

Why one person can run it

It works for one person because you sell the outcome, not the AI. I run my own life on this pattern: a primary bot, specialists that each own one job, and approval before anything sends.

How to start

Start with 3 businesses you already know. Keep the scope to email. Charge monthly. Add a new job only when the last one runs without you.