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Photograph your wholesaler's catalog and staff timecards and let an AI agent build the weekly ad, the schedule and the payroll totals
Tom Mulholland, 66, fourth-generation owner of Mulholland Grocery on Main Street in Malvern, Iowa (a town of about 1,000), with a staff of 10 or 11, in Salena Zito's syndicated column (Meta funded a 2023 documentary about the store and brought him in to test Muse before launch; noted)
He uses Meta's Muse for Small Business agent (named Wally). He highlights the items he wants in the wholesaler's catalog, photographs the pages and sends them to Muse to build the ad. He sends a photo of the current schedule and asks it to change the dates, then makes the final tweaks himself. He photographs employee timecards and Muse adds up the hours. It also writes some Facebook posts, posts to Instagram, knows Thursday is taco day and offers to post about it, and sends him reminders.
Muse for Small Business: basic use free up to a limit; $20 or $100 a month subscriptions for heavier use (per the column)
Easy · or we set it up for $197
Meta Muse for Small Business
The problem
He works about 65 hours a week and makes his money at the meat counter, but he also does all the ordering, writes the weekly ad and does the paperwork before the doors open. Typing the featured items from his wholesaler's catalog into the weekly ad took a couple of hours, and he rewrites the staff schedule every two weeks.
What happened
The weekly ad takes about 15 minutes instead of a couple of hours, and he said in Meta's announcement that adding up timecards cut "at least 15 minutes from payroll." He has connected QuickBooks but hasn't used it yet. The column notes he reviews its work and it makes no changes without his approval. Self-reported.
Quoted in the source: Tom Mulholland, owner, Mulholland Grocery, Malvern, Iowa. Source: Salena Zito (Creators Syndicate, via the Daily Herald): While the public fears AI, these Ohio and Iowa business owners are finding relief (2026-11-03) · Added 2026-11-09.
How to set it up yourself
- Highlight this week's featured items in your supplier's catalog, photograph the pages, and send them to your AI assistant with the prompt below and your sale prices.
- Check every item, price and date in the draft ad against the catalog before it goes to print or Facebook.
- Every two weeks, send a photo of the current staff schedule and ask for the same pattern with new dates. Make the final changes yourself.
- On payroll day, photograph each timecard and ask it to total the hours per person in a table. Spot-check two cards by hand before you run payroll.
Copy-paste prompt
These photos are pages from my wholesaler's catalog. I've highlighted the items I want in this week's ad. For each highlighted item, list: name, size, and my sale price from this list: {SALE PRICES}. Then write a weekly grocery ad for {STORE NAME} in {TOWN}, valid {DATES}, grouped into meat, produce, pantry and specials, with a short friendly headline. Flag any highlighted item you can't read clearly instead of guessing.We set up one AI automation in your tools, live within 48 hours of getting access, for $197. No call needed. Founding price for our first 10 customers (regular $297).
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