Andy LaPointe brings 25 years of hands-on retail and ecommerce experience to OnlineAssistant and Simple AI initiatives designed to help small business owners.
Bellaire, MI (PRUnderground) August 17th, 2026
After nearly 25 years of building and operating Traverse Bay Farms, co-founder Andy LaPointe is expanding his efforts to help Main Street retailers and small business owners use artificial intelligence in practical, everyday ways.
Through OnlineAssistant.ai and his growing Simple AI initiatives, LaPointe is focusing on a straightforward idea: small business owners should not have to become programmers, prompt engineers or technology experts to benefit from AI.
Instead, they can start with the business tasks they already perform every day.
"Most Main Street business owners don't need another complicated technology platform," said Andy LaPointe, co-founder of Traverse Bay Farms and creator of OnlineAssistant. "They need practical ways to answer customer questions faster, create better marketing, promote their businesses locally and save time. That's where AI can become useful almost immediately."
AI Advice Based on Running a Real Business
LaPointe's approach differs from AI education built primarily around technology theory.
Since 2001, Andy and Jennifer LaPointe have built Traverse Bay Farms while navigating many of the same challenges faced by independent retailers and small business owners across the country.
Those challenges have included attracting customers, creating new products, managing ecommerce, competing online, writing marketing content, building customer loyalty, responding to changing consumer behavior and adapting to new platforms.
LaPointe now applies AI to many of those same real-world business activities.
"The question I ask isn't, 'What can AI do?'" LaPointe said. "The better question is, 'What am I already doing in my business that AI might help me do faster or better?' That's a much easier place for a small business owner to start."
Practical Ways Main Street Businesses Can Use Artificial Intelligence
LaPointe's Simple AI approach focuses on specific business activities rather than technical terminology.
Among the practical applications he encourages retailers and entrepreneurs to explore are:
Answering customer questions. AI can help draft clear responses to frequently asked questions about products, services, store policies, shipping, hours and availability.
Creating social media content. Business owners can turn a single promotion, product announcement or customer question into multiple Facebook, Instagram and other social media posts.
Improving Google Business Profile content. AI can help retailers draft updates about new products, seasonal events, promotions, store announcements and local activities.
Writing email marketing campaigns. Small businesses can use AI to develop subject lines, promotional emails, educational messages and customer follow-up campaigns.
Creating better product descriptions. Retailers can transform basic product information into clearer descriptions that explain features, benefits and common uses.
Developing employee training materials. AI can help turn existing business knowledge into onboarding checklists, product guides, customer service scripts and internal training documents.
Planning local promotions. Retailers can brainstorm seasonal events, in-store promotions, community partnerships and neighborhood marketing ideas.
Repurposing existing knowledge. A business owner's years of experience can be transformed into FAQs, articles, videos, social posts, training materials and customer education.
Improving customer communication. AI can assist with drafting professional responses to reviews, inquiries, complaints and special requests.
Saving time on repetitive marketing tasks. Rather than starting with a blank page, business owners can use AI to create a first draft and then add their own experience, voice and judgment.
Artificial Intelligence Without the Technical Jargon
One of LaPointe's goals is to make AI less intimidating for business owners who do not consider themselves technology experts.
He believes many retailers hesitate because AI discussions often begin with technical concepts rather than familiar business problems.
"AI becomes much easier to understand when you connect it to something you've already done hundreds of times," LaPointe said. "If you've written a customer email, created a sale sign, answered a product question or planned a promotion, you already understand the business problem. AI is simply another tool you can use to help with that work."
That philosophy is central to OnlineAssistant.ai and LaPointe's Simple AI educational efforts.
The emphasis is not on replacing the business owner.
It is on helping the owner make better use of the knowledge he or she already has.
25 Years of Experience Behind the Strategy
Traverse Bay Farms will celebrate its 25th anniversary on September 11, 2026.
During that time, LaPointe has experienced several major shifts in small business marketing and retail.
The internet changed how customers found businesses.
Ecommerce changed how products were purchased.
Amazon and other marketplaces changed customer expectations.
Social media changed how companies communicated.
Mobile devices changed when and where consumers researched and bought products.
Now artificial intelligence is creating another shift.
LaPointe believes the lesson from those earlier changes is clear: small businesses do not have to become technology companies, but they do have to learn how to use important new tools.
"Small business owners have always adapted," he said. "Twenty-five years ago, many business owners wondered whether they really needed a website. Then it was ecommerce. Then social media. AI is the next tool to understand, but that doesn't mean you need to become an AI expert."
Experience Is the Advantage
LaPointe also believes experienced business owners may have an important advantage when using artificial intelligence.
AI can generate ideas and content quickly, but the business owner brings the customer knowledge, judgment and firsthand experience.
"A retailer who has talked to customers every day for 10 or 20 years has an enormous amount of knowledge," LaPointe said. "AI can help that retailer organize it, expand it and communicate it. The technology isn't replacing the experience. It's helping the owner get more value from it."
That distinction has become a central theme of LaPointe's work.
Rather than encouraging small business owners to chase every new AI tool, he recommends starting with one repetitive task and measuring whether AI makes it easier.
Start Small and Solve One Problem
LaPointe recommends that retailers begin with a simple exercise.
Choose one task that is repeated every week.
It might be writing Facebook posts, responding to common customer questions, sending a promotional email, updating a Google Business Profile or describing a new product.
Then use AI to help create a first draft.
"Don't try to reinvent your entire business in one afternoon," LaPointe said. "Pick one task that takes too much time. See if AI helps. If it does, use what you learned on the next task."
For Main Street businesses with limited staff and limited time, LaPointe believes that incremental approach can make artificial intelligence both practical and manageable.
Helping Main Street Businesses Compete
Through OnlineAssistant and his Simple AI initiatives, LaPointe plans to continue sharing real-world strategies that retailers and entrepreneurs can apply directly to their businesses.
His broader goal is to help independent business owners compete without losing the personal service and local expertise that make Main Street businesses valuable in the first place.
"AI should help a small business feel more capable, not less human," LaPointe said. "The local knowledge, relationships and experience are still the advantage. AI should help business owners put those strengths to work."
About Andy LaPointe
Andy LaPointe is the co-founder of Traverse Bay Farms and creator of OnlineAssistant. He has nearly 25 years of hands-on experience in retail, ecommerce, product development, customer service, digital marketing and small business operations.
His work with OnlineAssistant and Simple AI focuses on helping Main Street retailers, entrepreneurs and small business owners apply artificial intelligence to everyday business challenges without needing advanced technical knowledge.
