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Business Advice

Verve, Granby, MA
Business Advice
Plain-spoken help with sales, AI and online security, from someone who's spent decades in business.


I'm Adam Sweet. I run Verve, a small music label in Granby, Massachusetts. Fiddle, mandolin, old New England stories. Not a tech company. Over the past year, AI has become one of the most useful tools I have, and I've learned a lot about keeping my accounts safe along the way.

I'm not a programmer. I learned all of this by trying things, breaking things, and keeping what worked. My rule is simple: test it, then promise it. Now I'd like to help other small businesses do the same, without the jargon and without the sales pitch.

My background

I came to this from sales.

  • Bread & Circus. Decades in sales.
  • Dr. Hauschka Cosmetics. National Sales Manager.
  • Stamell Strings. Where I got my training in sales.
  • Sales and consulting. Decades more of it since.

So when we talk, it isn't just about tools. It's about how your business actually sells, and what's worth your time.

Who it's for

Shop owners, music teachers, musicians, contractors, cafés, artists, farm stands and one-person offices. If you're wearing every hat in your business and wondering whether AI is worth the bother, or worried your passwords are a mess, this is for you.

Don't be afraid of AI

Nearly every musician I know is afraid of AI, and a lot of small business owners feel the same way. I get it. But I've played fiddle since 1966, and I've watched people fear the drum machine, the synthesizer, home recording, MP3s and streaming. Each time, the ones who did best weren't the ones who hid. They learned the new tool, kept what made them human, and got back to work.

I don't let AI make my music. My songs still start in pencil on a scratch pad. But AI does the research, the paperwork and the hundred chores that used to keep me from playing. My AI office helper, Dex, now handles a daily round of posts that used to eat my mornings. Your business has chores like that too.

What I can help with

  • Finding the time. Where your hours actually go each week, and which of those chores AI can take off your plate today.
  • Choosing tools. Simple, low-cost tools that fit how you already work. A quality AI agent checks its sources, asks before it spends money or sends anything in your name, and admits when it hits a wall. A cheap one guesses. It's all about quality.
  • Email, calendar and paperwork. Sorting the inbox, pulling the details out of a pile of messages, invoices, bookkeeping categories, grant checklists.
  • Getting the word out. Press and customer lists, short announcements, a posting calendar, and how to go slow on social media so your accounts don't get locked.
  • Your website and blog. Tidying your own words and facts into pages you can paste in, checking for broken links.
  • What AI is not good at, so you don't waste money finding out the hard way.

Locking down your business

A friend who works in cybersecurity put it bluntly: there are a lot of old, badly maintained websites out there, and every one of them is a hole. AI is handing hackers shortcuts that used to take a team of experts. You can't fix the internet, but you can make yourself a much harder target than the next business, and most of it costs nothing.

I once sat down in a local businesswoman's office and saw her passwords and Social Security numbers tucked under the glass on her desk, for anyone across from her to read. She wasn't careless. She was busy. That's the problem I help solve.

  • A password manager, with a different strong password for every account, and the paper notes shredded.
  • Two-factor sign-in everywhere, using an authenticator app or a security key instead of text messages, which can be stolen with a SIM swap.
  • A VPN, especially on public Wi-Fi.
  • Your email, the master key to everything: a strong password, and aliases instead of handing out your real address.
  • Owning your data. Your customer list, your records and your work are yours. Keep your own copies.

None of this makes you hack-proof. It makes you a lot more trouble than the next target, and that's usually enough.

My ground rules

  • Nothing goes out in your name without your okay.
  • Sources or it didn't happen. If a fact can't be checked, don't use it.
  • Start with one chore, not ten.
  • Keep the human part of your work human.

How it works

The first conversation is free and no pressure. We'll talk about how your week goes, and you'll leave with two or three practical things you can try right away. No software to buy from me.

I work by email, by text, or by a phone call I place to you. Tell me a little about your business and when's good, and we'll go from there.

Let's talk. Send me a note or reach me through linktr.ee/verve413.

Read more: Don't be terrified. Get activated. · Put Your Agent to Work · Lock It Down

Verve, Granby, Massachusetts. A Pioneer Valley company.

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