How I Outsmarted Bureaucracy with AI (Instead of Letting It Ruin My Day)
I’m not built for paperwork (and neither are any of my creative friends). If I see an official looking form, my first instinct is to ignore it and hope it goes away (but it never does).
But as a small business owner, I can’t afford to procrastinate.
I had to renew my DBA (Doing Business As) recently which meant filling out forms, figuring out deadlines, and hoping I didn’t screw up some tiny detail that would get me rejected. (I know this is a small thing, but for some of us, these small things can literally derail us from the big thing we are after.
Normally, I’d:
❌ Open 27 tabs trying to find the right info
❌ Get lost in a government PDF and cry a bit
❌ Procrastinate for six months because my brain refuses
Instead, I let AI do the work.
I asked ChatGPT to:
✅ Find the exact paperwork I needed
✅ Summarize the steps (cost, deadlines, where to file)
✅ Double-check my application so I didn’t mess up
Instead of wasting four hours and my sanity, I had everything done in minutes.
🚀 Why This Matters for Small Business Owners & Freelancers
Paperwork is built to be confusing.
The system wasn’t made for us—it was made people who can hire accountants, lawyers, and consultants.
But AI levels the playing field.
💡 Now, you can use AI to:
🔹 Summarize complicated forms & legal docs
🔹 Automate repetitive business tasks
🔹 Get straight to the answers instead of wasting hours researching just to make some small mistakes that will get you sent to the back of the line.
👉 Want to see how AI can help you and your business?
I’m offering free one-on-one AI strategy calls for small business owners & freelancers.
💡 No sales pitch—just insights & new connections. (Im literally just trying to make friends and offer help the way that i know how to)
📩 Send me a message to book a call
Let’s make work easier, not harder.

Brian DeSimone
Oakland photographer making executives, founders, and creatives look expensive and interesting. Available throughout the Bay Area for editorial, brand, and corporate work.


