Using ChatGPT to Grow a Small Business in South-East London: What It Does and Where It Stops

What ChatGPT is good for

Take a cafe. This directory lists 25 of them (10 October 2026). The owner wants a weekly specials post, a reply to a review, an email to a supplier and a short description for a new menu item. ChatGPT is useful for all of those. You paste in what you know, ask for a draft and edit it.

That is real value. It is also all manual: you open the tool, you type, you copy the result somewhere else, every time.

Where it stops

It does not know your diary. It does not see a new enquiry arrive. It does not remember to chase a quote or to ask a customer whether Thursday works. For those, you need AI connected to the places where the work lives: your email, your website and your WhatsApp.

A general rule of thumb: if you have to start it yourself, it is an assistant. If it starts itself when something happens, it is an agent.

Where Dean Keating fits

He builds AI agents and installs them in the tools you already use. His website lists jobs such as replying to new enquiries within minutes, day or night, following up leads, sending quotes and chasing them, booking jobs into the diary, answering common questions across email, web and WhatsApp, and putting together a weekly report. It is installed for you, not handed over.

It is not a course. If you want to learn to use ChatGPT yourself, that is a different purchase, and there are plenty of courses from other people. Dean's service is the system that runs without you.

A sensible order

1. Use ChatGPT yourself for a few weeks on writing tasks. It costs little and shows you what works.
2. Note the jobs you repeat that need a reply, a booking or a chase.
3. Take those to a free call and see which could run on their own.

You leave with a plan you can use with or without him, and the cost is given after the call with no obligation.

Honest caution

Check anything factual that ChatGPT writes about your business, including opening hours and prices. It can state things that are wrong in a confident voice.

Where he is

He is based in Horndean, Hampshire, and works with Eltham and south-east London businesses remotely. For somebody in the room, look at providers closer to you as well.

See the cafes listed here and the best cafes list.

Contact

Call or WhatsApp Dean Keating on 07418 627304, or email dean@deankeating.com. See the Dean Keating profile on Eltham.co. Websites: ai-agent.deankeating.com and deankeating.com.

About this guide

Eltham.co is published by Dean Keating, who also runs the service described here. He is based in Horndean, Hampshire, not in Eltham, and works with Eltham and south-east London businesses remotely. If you want someone in the room, say so on the first call and look at Eltham-based providers too. This guide recommends our own service, so compare it with other providers before you decide.