👋 Welcome back to AI for SME Success, your weekly dose of quick, actionable AI insights for small businesses.
Here’s what we’re covering today:
- 💰 How to Build Apps Without Coding
- 🛒 ChatGPT’s New App Store
- 👩💼 New AI Office Helper: Alexa+
- ✈️ New AI Google Flight Deal
- 🔔 Two Shifts SMEs Must Make in 2026
- ✨ My New Free Webinar: On-Brand Visuals with AI
💰 How to Build Apps Without Coding
A solopreneur with zero technical background can now build, and profit from, a commercial app using AI-powered “vibe coding,” a term for building software with natural language instead of traditional code.
A recent example comes from a story featured on the Starter Story YouTube channel in December, where Pat Walls interviewed George, an 18-year-old college freshman who had never written a single line of code.
In just one month, George went from idea to the App Store. His app, Wrestle AI,an AI-powered wrestling coach that analyzes match videos and generates drills and training plans, now generates over $17,000 per month on a $9.99 subscription.
George followed a simple six-step formula and relied on just four low-cost tools. To promote the app, he reached out to more than 100 influencers per day. Once revenue allowed, he hired an offshore developer to further improve the product.
This opportunity is reinforced by a Forbes article about Zach Yadegari, also in his teens, whose AI-powered nutrition app Cal AI reached $12 million in revenue.
Key takeaway for SMEs: building a commercial app without coding is now fast and affordable thanks to AI. With a few hundred dollars and about a month of focused work, small business owners can turn ideas into revenue-generating commercial apps.
🛒 New ChatGPT’s App Store
In late December 2025, OpenAI fundamentally changed the game by opening third-party app submissions directly within ChatGPT.
Now users can find and use apps right inside ChatGPT. Businesses like Spotify, Canva, Zillow, and DoorDash already using this opportunity to promote a variety of services from designing graphics to ordering food.
Compared to the process of submitting apps to the Apple App Store, submission to the ChatGPT App Store is lighter and faster, but monetization is less mature.
Apple requires a $99/year membership for the standard Apple Developer Program, comply with App Store Review Guidelines covering safety, performance, design, business, and legal standards, and use native Apple’s tools.
ChatGPT app submission also emphasizes safety, policy compliance, and API integration, but has far fewer constraints on tools, UI, operating systems, and distribution mechanics. However, in-platform monetization is still limited.
✈️ AI Google Flight Deals
Google has introduced a new tool worth knowing about: Google Flight Deals. Now in beta, Flight Deals adds conversational AI to flight searching.
Results are well organized, showing the airline, trip duration, and price savings against average fares.
Access is limited for now. Flight Deals is available only to signed-in Google users in certain countries, but you can often access it by scrolling to the bottom of Google Flights, changing your location setting, and refreshing.
Current limitations include:
- It can’t plan multi-city itineraries, open-jaw routes, or complex itineraries.
- It doesn’t yet allow one-prompt searches across multiple airports in a region.
- Points, miles, and mixed cash-plus-points bookings aren’t supported.
👩💼Your New AI Office Helper: Amazon Launches Alexa+
- On January 6, 2026, Amazon announced a major AI upgrade to Alexa+, transforming Alexa into a generative-AI assistant available not only on Echo devices, but also on the web via Alexa.com.
- Alexa+ is more conversational, remembers context and preferences, and can take multi-step actions such as managing calendars, summarizing documents, planning travel, making reservations, and automating routine tasks.
- For SMEs, this means faster admin work, easier scheduling, content drafting, and service coordination without new software.
- Alexa+ is included with Amazon Prime or available via subscription.
🔔Two AI Shifts SMEs Must Make in 2026
In a recent Business Insider article, “I Spent a Year Interviewing and Listening to Over 50 Tech Leaders Talk About AI. Here Are the 4 Biggest Lessons,” author Lee Chong Ming shares insights on how AI will reshape business in 2026 and beyond.
Two key lessons outline how SMEs should adapt to an AI-driven world in the near future.
#1 Embrace AI. Business owners must actively adopt AI to remain competitive. Resistance or delay can quickly put SMEs at a disadvantage as competitors move faster and operate more efficiently.
#2 Double Down on Soft Skills. “Soft skills matter more in the AI era,” claims Lee Chong. While AI handles technical and routine tasks, soft skills like collaboration, relationship-building, communication, and networking are becoming true differentiators. With AI freeing up time, we have more opportunity to invest in people and relationships.
✨ My New Free Webinar: On-Brand Visuals with AI
Growing a business today means standing out visually, and AI can help you do that faster than ever. But here’s the catch: brands that use low-quality visuals lose up to 94% of first impressions online. That’s a huge missed opportunity for trust and engagement.
This webinar will show you how to flip the script. Instead of settling for generic AI images, you’ll learn how to create impactful, professional visuals that align perfectly with your brand. We’ll cover the best AI tools, success formulas, and practical strategies you can apply immediately to elevate your marketing and attract more customers.
📅 Thursday, January 15
🕛 12:00–1:00 PM
🎤 Featuring Natalia Brattan, Harvard-trained AI expert and consultant.
Don’t let poor visuals hold your business back. Join us and start creating content that converts.
Till next week,