For twenty-two years, my business thrived.
It wasn’t flashy or groundbreaking, but it was solid, dependable. We had a loyal customer base—locals who valued our work and appreciated the familiarity. My staff were busy, their days filled with a steady stream of orders, services, and interactions with customers who had come to trust us.
 

We weren’t the cheapest option, but we were the trusted one. That counted for something, or at least, I thought it did.

But things started to change. First, it was online shopping—
bigger competitors offering the same services and products for prices I couldn’t afford to match.

Then, the DIY wave came, as customers realized that tutorials and kits made it possible to do what we had done for them for years, and they started opting to handle things themselves.

Still, we managed.
The business grew leaner, we adapted where we could, and I reassured myself that loyalty would keep us afloat.

Then came COVID.

Surviving the pandemic was an achievement in itself. We cut costs, reduced staff, and specialized in areas where we could still compete. It was tough, but we were managing, scraping by, carrying our legacy forward in a world that felt less predictable.

And then AI arrived.

At first, I dismissed it. I had never been particularly tech-savvy, and the idea of integrating artificial intelligence into my business felt distant, complicated, unnecessary.

The thought of spending time learning it felt exhausting when I had already been stretched so thin.

Other businesses were struggling just as we were, but some took the leap. They embraced AI, integrated it into their workflows, automated processes, improved efficiency, and adapted their customer engagement strategies.

I told myself that after more than twenty years, my business had weathered enough storms to survive this one too.

I was wrong.

AI didn’t just enhance other businesses—it fundamentally changed the landscape.

The customers who once relied on us found faster, cheaper, and even more personalized alternatives through AI-driven services. Companies that had embraced automation were able to operate with fewer expenses and greater efficiency, leaving us trailing in their wake.

Customer engagement dwindled.

Where once we had bustling days and loyal clients, now we had silent phones and empty order sheets.
 

There was no way forward.
We let more staff go, watching as the team that had built this business with me over decades shrank to barely anything.

Then came the debt, creeping upward, relentless. And eventually, there was no more fighting it.
 

We shut the doors.

As I stand outside the building that once hummed with life, I am haunted by the realization that my downfall wasn’t inevitable—it was a consequence of my own refusal to adapt. AI was not the enemy; my resistance to change was.

I had thought tradition and loyalty were enough. That experience could outweigh innovation. That somehow, our legacy would shield us from the evolution happening around us.
But business has never worked that way.

If I could go back, I would choose differently.

I would learn. I would embrace change rather than fear it. I would recognize that technology is not something to run from, but something to leverage—to strengthen, not diminish.

Instead, I stand as proof of what happens when a business clings too tightly to the past, ignoring the tides of progress that will rise regardless.

My story is not just one of lost opportunity but a warning—a reminder that the world does not slow down for those unwilling to adapt.

It moves forward with or without you.
And if you refuse to move with it, you will be left behind.