Not because he didn’t want to answer. Because he was under a sink 🙂

Each one of those calls was probably someone who Googled, found him, and was ready to book. By the time he called back, 7 of them had already hired someone else.

This is the invisible revenue leak killing local businesses.

Restaurants. Salons. Contractors. Clinics. One-person or small teams who are doing the work and can’t simultaneously be at the front desk.

AI agents are changing this — in a way that actually works for them:

→ A voice agent that picks up every call, understands the request, and books the appointment
→ A chat agent on their website or WhatsApp that answers FAQs, takes details, and follows up
→ No scripts that sound robotic. No hold music. No missed opportunities.

The agent knows their hours, their services, their pricing, their availability. It sounds like a real person — because it’s been trained to represent them.

The business owner wakes up the next morning to a calendar that filled itself overnight.

This isn’t a big enterprise problem statement. This is for the plumber, the salon owner, the physio and every local business — people who built something real and just need the front door handled.

👉 This is one of the most impactful things AI can do for small business right now.

Rename one thing (clarity > creativity)

If someone new walked in today, would they understand what you offer… without asking?

Some offerings make new customers ask, “What’s included in this?”
Let’s start there. Rename just one of those.

Examples

• “House Special” → “Breakfast Combo (Coffee + Croissant)”

• “Foundation Course” → “Beginner Guitar Classes (4+ years)”

• “Value Pack” → “Weekly Grocery Essentials”

Clear names might feel boring to us, but they create certainty- and certainty sells.

Change one time slot

That slow hour? Try nudging it by 30 minutes. Or move it to a different day.

• Try a café happy hour

• Move that low-performing music class to early morning or evening

• Run a store promotion this week

People live by routines- school pickups, workdays, energy levels. Sometimes that’s all it takes.

Send one follow-up message

After a first visit, a trial, or a purchase, send a simple note:

“Hey {{Name}}, it was nice having you today.
If you have any questions or want help choosing next time, just reply here.”

You’d be surprised how many people were almost ready.

How to try this

• Pick just one

• Run it for a week

• Don’t change anything else

• Notice what feels easier- for you and for customers

Most progress doesn’t come from doing more.
It comes from removing friction, one small step at a time.

Until next time,
Kabandi 💚

It’s called Local Market Fit.

Disclaimer: I read about this first in owner.com where Adam their founder spoke about Menu Market Fit and it’s a brilliant concept.

What is Local Market Fit (in simple words)

Local Market Fit = 👉 Are people in your locality already searching for what you offer?

Not globally.
Not nationally.
Right where your business exists.

The simplest way to check Local Market Fit (10 minutes)

You only need Google Keyword Planner.

Step 1: Open Google Keyword Planner

• Go to Google Ads

• Tools → Keyword Planner

• Choose “Discover new keywords”

(You don’t need to run ads for this.)

Step 2: Type your actual offerings

Use real, customer-language terms

Examples:

• “kids art classes”

• “Vinayasa yoga near me”

• “Matcha tea near me”

• “pottery classes for beginners”

👉 One idea per line.

Step 3: Set your location (this is key)

• Change location to your city or area

  • e.g. Bethany, Portland

Step 4: Look at monthly searches

Now check two things:

1. Are there searches at all?
   

   • 1,000+ /month locally = solid

   • 100+/month = niche but viable

   • less than 100 = risky unless referrals drive demand
     

2. Which variations show demand
   

   • “kids art class” vs “art workshop for kids”

   • “yoga near me” vs “morning yoga”

Real-world examples

Example 1: Kids Activity Centre

You sell:

• Art

• Dance

• STEM

• Drama

Keyword Planner shows:

• “kids art classes” → 1,300/month

• “dance classes for kids” → 900/month

• “kids drama class” → 50/month

• “kids STEM workshop” → 40/month

Insight:
Lead with Art and Dance.
Drama & STEM become add-ons, camps, or trials—not homepage heroes.

Example 2: Yoga Studio

You want to promote:

• Sound healing

• Breathwork

• Vinyasa yoga

Search data shows:

• “yoga near me” → 2,400/month

• “morning yoga” → 700/month

• “sound healing” → 30/month

Insight:
Market Yoga first.
Sell sound healing inside the yoga funnel.

Example 3: Café / Workshop Space

You’re planning:

• Coffee tastings

• Latte art workshops

Search data shows:

• “coffee near me” → huge

• “latte art workshop” → tiny

Insight:
Coffee brings footfall.
Workshops monetize the regulars.

How to use this immediately

Once you know your local demand:

• Your homepage headline should match the top searched term

• Your Google Business Profile categories should reflect it

• Your program names should use search language, not brand language

• Your new offerings should start where demand already exists

One mindset shift to keep

If people aren’t searching for it, you’re educating the market.
If they are searching for it, you’re simply showing up.

Most SMBs grow faster by choosing the second.

I will see you next week,

Until then, open Keyword Planner.
Your market is already talking.

P.S I went looking for a simple, relevant tutorial on using Google Keywords and found this one to share with you all: How to Use Google Keyword Planner for SEO (It’s FREE!)

This is Part 1 of a short series on Local SEO. Let’s start with the easiest way to get customers who are actually looking for you- using the most powerful keyword of all: “near me.”

What Google actually means by “near me”

When someone searches “kids art class near me,” Google is silently asking three questions:

• Are you real?

• Are you actually nearby?

• Do enough people trust you?

Your website keywords matter far less here. Your Google Business Profile matters far more.

So if you do only one thing this week, do this 👇

Treat your Google Business Profile like your homepage

Most people set it up once… and forget it for years. That’s a mistake. We need to optimize the page every now and then so that our business ranks for “near me” searches.

1. Pick ONE primary category (don’t overthink it)

Choose the category that best describes what you sell—not everything you do.

Bad:
“Education, Kids Activities, Coaching, Events”

Good:
“Children’s Gymnastics Center”
or “Dance School”
or, like in the screenshot above, “Japanese Restaurant”

Google likes clarity—just like us humans 🙂

2. Your description should sound boring (that’s good)

Write a simple, factual description using location + service.

Example:
”We run kids dance and movement classes in Bethany, Portland, for ages 3–10. Classes run on weekday evenings and weekends.”

Nothing overcomplicated.

3. Add photos like you’re proving you exist

This one is wildly underrated.

Add:

• Your storefront / entrance

• Inside of the space

• People attending classes (with permission)

• Signboards with your business name

• Or like the screenshot below pictures of your top-selling dishes

  

  Why this matters:
  Google uses photos as reality checks.
  No photos = harder to trust = fewer “near me” impressions.

Also, photos are the biggest conversion driver for local businesses.

4. Reviews beat keywords (every single time)

For “near me” searches, reviews are ranking fuel. Like images, reviews are decision-makers.

Two important rules:

• Ask every happy customer for a review (consistently)

• Reply to every review (even the short ones). This is a goldmine- most businesses don’t do it
  
  Pro tip:
  When replying, casually mention your service + location.

Example:
Thanks so much! We love running weekend art classes for kids here at our centre on Bethany, Portland.

The “near me” mindset shift

Most people ask:
“How do I rank for ‘near me’?”

A better question is:
“How do I make it obvious that I’m nearby, legit, and trusted?”

If Google can answer that confidently, rankings follow.

Next week:
I’ll continue on the Local SEO bandwagon and share one more nugget you can probably implement within a week.

Until then,
optimise the one page that matters most :)

- Kabandi
Founders and Floors

I’ll start with a small confession.

I kicked off this year by doing almost no work.
I cooked, baked, painted in a park, but mostly negotiated my twin toddlers tantrums and demands, and let my laptop gather a thin layer of dust.

That one week gave me enough time to think about what I want to prioritize in 2026 as a small business owner.

If you’re receiving this email, it’s because at some point you crossed paths with my work - maybe through my software platform, or in a conversation or meet-up that turned into an email address exchange. I didn’t want that to go to waste.

My name is Kabandi. I run a small software startup and also consult with an AI startup. I’m tinkering with a side product too. But what I’m most excited about in 2026 is building a small, thoughtful community of SMB owners and operators (people like you), where I share simple ideas on building and scaling a business- along with tools, systems, and lessons I’ve picked up while building, breaking, and rebuilding things over the years.

I’m calling it Founders and Floors.

Think of it as something you read with a cup of coffee, not something you save for “later.” I’ll share one practical nugget every week that you can implement in your work right away.

I’ll write once a week (most Thursdays).
If it helps - great!
If it doesn’t - you can unsubscribe anytime, no awkwardness, no hard feelings.

Either way, I’m glad our paths crossed.

More soon,
Kabandi

Just a few years ago, organic meant SEO. Google. Reddit. Write, ship, wait.

We all did it- I even wrote a playbook.

And then- things just shifted while we were working inside- very organically without making any noise.

Today, organic feels different. It’s social.

It’s people showing up every day, sharing thoughts, building in public - some very enthusiastic, some vulnerable, some true, some… not entirely.

But they’re out there. Telling stories. Holding attention.

Attention didn’t vanish. It just changed streets.

Let’s write more.

After all, we’ve always been suckers for stories. And humans as we are, we’re the only ones who can tell the imperfect stories that are truly ours.