Make Time: Human, Business & AI Capabilities for Small Business

Can attracting more customers make a business less sustainable? In this episode of The Intentional Business, 25eight founder and CEO Sam Hurley explores a paradox familiar to many small business owners: the business needs more sales, but the customers it attracts make it increasingly dependent on the owner. Sam shares the story of a participant in the Next-Level Growth Program who needed more regu...

What is an intentional business, and how do you build one that works for you? Sam Hurley explains why effort eventually stops moving a business forward, how disconnected systems make the owner the system, and why your vision for life should shape the business you build. You'll leave with a practical 15-minute exercise to identify what needs to change next. An intentional business is designed a...

AI Can Save You Time, but It Cannot Decide What That Time Is For One of the biggest promises surrounding AI is that it will give us time back. It can draft the email, summarise the meeting, analyse information, update systems and complete in minutes what may previously have taken hours. But saving time is not the same as having more time. When technology removes one task, many of us simply replace...

You signed up for the AI tool everyone was talking about. You experimented with prompts, produced some useful outputs and felt that initial spark of possibility. Then, a few months later, you realised the business was still operating in much the same way. You still felt busy, the results were inconsistent and the promised productivity gains had not quite appeared. In this episode of Make Time, hos...

It is the end of the financial year in Australia, which makes this a natural moment for business owners to pause, reflect and reset. In this short school holiday episode, Make Time host Sam Hurley explores the “fresh start effect” and why the beginning of a new financial year can create the motivation and mental space to ask bigger questions about what comes next. Sam invites small business owners...

A lot of AI advice skips the most important part: the order you do things in. In this episode of Make Time, Sam Hurley makes the case that when AI is brought in to fix a business rather than enhance it, it simply amplifies what was already wrong, which is part of why we're starting to see a sea of loud, mediocre businesses all producing the same confident-looking output. The fix isn't a be...

Governance isn't the most exciting word, and for a busy owner it usually sits well below customers, suppliers and staff. But in this episode of Make Time, Sam Hurley makes the case that a small amount of clarity about how AI is used in your business now saves a disproportionate amount of trouble later. EY's AI Sentiment Index found that 68% of Australian computer-based workers had used AI...

If you've read the books, taken the courses, attended the workshops and filled notebooks with good intentions, but your business looks much the same, this episode is for you. Sam makes the case up front: that gap isn't a reflection of your intelligence, your work ethic or your commitment. It's structural. The information age sold us the idea that knowing something is the same as being...

Most business owners who hit a ceiling with delegation aren't failing at delegation. They're running into a structural problem: a capability layer underneath delegation that only the business owner can hold. In this episode of Make Time, Sam Hurley breaks down what that layer is, what the research says about why it can't be delegated, and why AI strategy has made the problem impossible...

Make Time host, Sam Hurley, explores the pressure many small business owners are feeling right now: the sense that everyone else is moving faster with AI, while you are still trying to run the business, serve customers, manage the team, make decisions, and keep up. At the centre of this episode is a simple but important reassurance:You are not behind. Drawing on recent AI adoption research from De...

Make Time host, Sam Hurley, explores one of the most important emerging shifts in artificial intelligence for small and medium-sized businesses: the move from cloud-based AI tools toward local AI models owned and controlled by the business itself. While most businesses currently interact with AI through browser-based tools like ChatGPT, Claude, Copilot, and Gemini, Sam explains why a transformatio...

Make Time host, Sam Hurley, explores one of the biggest misconceptions surrounding AI adoption in business today: the assumption that AI tools alone create value. Drawing on research from organisations including McKinsey, Stanford, MIT, and OECD, Sam explains why many businesses are investing heavily in AI yet failing to see meaningful returns. While AI adoption has accelerated rapidly, capability...

Make Time host, Sam Hurley, opens season two by exploring one of the most significant shifts facing small and medium-sized businesses today: the closing gap between individuals and large organisations, driven by the rapid advancement of AI. Drawing on over a decade of experience supporting business leaders, she reflects on a growing pattern. As access to information, tools, and strategy becomes un...

Make Time host, Sam Hurley, explores one of the most important things to get right early in business: understanding the problem you solve and why it matters. Drawing on over a decade of experience working with small and medium-sized business leaders, she reflects on the patterns behind business success and failure. While external factors play a role, Sam explains why outcomes are ultimately shaped...

Make Time host, Sam Hurley, CEO, 25eight explores the critical difference between knowledge and capability, and why this gap is one of the biggest constraints to small business growth. She explains why knowing more does not necessarily lead to better results, drawing on research from organisational theory, education, and the AI economy. In a world where knowledge is increasingly accessible and abu...

In this weeks episode of Make Time, host Sam explores the gap between digital presence and effective digital strategy for small businesses. She emphasises the importance of understanding customer journeys, measuring results meaningfully, and acting with intention in a noisy digital landscape, especially with the increased adoption of AI tools. Are you a small business owner or leader who wants to...

In this week's episode of Make Time, Sam explores how small business owners often accumulate too many digital tools in response to problems, leading to decreased productivity. She offers strategies to streamline your digital environment, adopt intentional technology, and ultimately work smarter, not harder. The Digital ROI Formula Sam refer's to: Digital Investment Score = (TxAxFxS) / (CxIxR)Value...

In this episode, Sam tackles one of the most common frustrations small business owners face with AI: trying it, not getting the results they expected, and wondering what went wrong. The answer, more often than not, isn't the tool. It's that AI has been dropped into a business that isn't yet ready for it. Sam introduces the concept of the capability-technology mismatch, draws on McKinsey and World...

In this episode, Sam discusses the challenges small businesses face in a competitive market dominated by larger enterprises and cheaper alternatives. She emphasises the importance of innovation, local economic resilience, and the need for small businesses to adapt their strategies to remain viable. The conversation explores market forces, the future economy, and practical strategies for small busi...

In this episode, Sam discusses essential mindset shifts and practical tools for small business owners to overcome limitations and achieve sustainable growth. She emphasises the importance of transitioning from a doer to an architect, focusing on long-term strategies, embracing a growth mindset, managing risks, empowering teams, and prioritising customer value. The conversation also highlights the...

In this episode of Make Time, host Sam Hurley interviews Jessica Sammut, an accomplished entrepreneur and business coach in the allied health sector. They discuss Jessica's journey from practitioner to business owner, the importance of execution in turning ideas into reality, and the challenges faced by allied health practitioners in building sustainable practices. Jessica shares insights on creat...

Make Time host, Sam Hurley, CEO, 25eight explores the multifaceted nature of entrepreneurship, emphasising that it is not a universal path for everyone. She delves into global and Australian data on entrepreneurship, highlighting the challenges, isolation, and the psychological traits that contribute to success. The discussion also redefines what success means in entrepreneurship, advocating for a...

In this episode of Make Time, host Sam delves into the concept of decision fatigue and its impact on small business owners. She explains how the famous tech boss uniform is not just a fashion statement but a strategy to protect decision quality. Sam emphasises that running a business involves making countless micro-decisions daily, which can lead to mental exhaustion. To combat this, she offers pr...

In this episode, Sam discusses the complexities of pricing for small businesses, particularly in service-oriented fields. She emphasises the emotional and ethical dilemmas faced by business owners when setting prices, the importance of establishing a viability floor, and the shift towards value-based pricing strategies. Sam also highlights the need for diagnostics to identify underlying issues aff...

In this episode of Make Time, host Sam delves into the critical process of identifying what truly matters to business owners. She emphasises that growth should be defined on personal terms, challenging the common misconception that leaders should inherently know their priorities. Instead, Sam advocates for a reflective approach, where understanding friction and discomfort in business can reveal de...