Most business owners are asking oddly specific questions that are really just versions of the wrong question. The real one is simple. Does anybody actually want to buy what you're building?

Today on Businessing, Michael Rampolla of Fortum Advisors joins Pat to talk about solving the right problem, why "go fund yourself" beats chasing VC money, and how to pick the one task that actually moves your business forward. Then Andrea Hubbert of Hub & Company brings her brand strategy work to the Idea Slam, and the room figures out how to point AI at the right part of her process so it powers up her deliverables instead of doing the work for her. Plus the AI story of the day, where four AI models each got to run their own little society and the results were not even close. If you're a small business owner who stays busy without moving forward, this one's for you.

The Idea Slam is real conversation with real people solving real problems in real time. Listeners come on the air, tell Pat what they're working on right now, and the room makes it great together, live and with no net.

In this episode:

00:00 Monday open and the Fridays Off framework: find, fund, finish

03:00 Breaking news: the US-Iran conflict and the oil spike

06:00 A pancreatic cancer breakthrough and the start of hurricane season

08:00 Solve the Right Problem with Michael Rampolla of Fortum Advisors

23:30 Sponsor: Athena Legal Solutions

26:00 Idea Slam with Andrea Hubbert of Hub & Company

27:30 AI story of the day: what happens when AI runs a society

47:00 Sponsor: Paul's Jewelers and the Seven C's Cafe

49:30 Tweet of the day

50:00 Happy 6th birthday, SBOC

Resources mentioned:

- Michael Rampolla, Fortum Advisors

- Andrea Hubbert, Hub & Company (https://hubandcompany.com)

- Athena Legal Solutions (https://athenalegalsolutionsllc.com)

- Paul's Jewelers and the Seven C's Cafe (https://paulsjewelers.com)

🎙️ Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PatMillerFridaysOff?sub_confirmation=1

🎧 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/businessing-with-pat-miller/id1870663109

🌐 Listen anywhere: https://businessing.captivate.fm/listen

📬 Fridays Off Newsletter: https://fridaysoffnewsletter.com

👥 Small Business Owners Community: https://smallbusinesscommunity.com

#SmallBusiness #Entrepreneurship #PatMiller #SolveTheRightProblem #AIForSmallBusiness #BrandStrategy