How AI can boost small business growth

AI seems to have come out of nowhere. In the past couple of years it feels like everyone’s talking about it - from excitable tech entrepreneurs on one side to concerned governments on the other.

The truth is, it hasn’t come out of thin air. Siri, launched by Apple back in 2011, is widely considered to be one of the first AI tools, followed by the Amazon Echo and their AI assistant Alexa in 2014. 

But it wasn’t until ChatGPT was launched by OpenAI in November 2022, shortly followed by GPT-4 in March 2023, that people really started paying attention. And when everyone’s talking about something - it’s important businesses get ahead of the curve as quickly as possible, whether you’re established or still working out how to start a business. 

As with all changing trends - AI has been met with mixed emotions among small business owners. According to new findings from a poll carried out by Indeed, almost one in three small business owners are scared to implement AI despite acknowledging the potential benefits of the technology. 

On the other hand, 41% of small business owners told the same poll they want to integrate AI into their business, but don’t know where to start. And this is a common problem. With more AI-powered apps, tools and gadgets now available - it’s hard to cut through the noise and find what’s right for your business.

The Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council (SBEC) reported 93% of business owners felt AI tools offered cost-effective solutions that could drive savings and improve profitability. And recently, more business owners have come forward to say AI efficiencies may pave the way to a four-day working week.

So, where do you start? How can AI reduce costs in business and boost growth? What are the best AI business solutions? And what are the potential risks you need to know about? Let’s dive in.

How AI tools can help grow your business

Running a business is made up of a whole host of different tasks - from the general day-to-day of business operations to marketing and communications. And while AI can’t (yet) run a business and carry out all the necessary tasks required - it can help save time, money and the risk of human error within some of the tasks - all of which are important for a growing business.

Let’s break down some of the common small business tasks and look at how AI might be able to take off some of the strain so you can focus on the growth of your business.

Customer service

Customer service may feel like an odd place to start. It typically involves direct contact between the customer and the business - or more simply - one human to another. But AI can now take over much of the sorting and sifting of complaints and queries - a process which takes time and effort and which can easily lead to human error. It can even respond to customers on your behalf, 24/7 - something a growing business will greatly benefit from offering.

Requests and ticket management - AI can categorise and even prioritise customer service requests. This can really speed up the process as AI takes care of the simpler queries directly, while routing more complex issues to a human.

Automated responses - With a range of AI chatbots now available, AI can handle many of the more common customer queries such as order tracking, product info and FAQs. 

Communications

The more you can speak to your customers in a way they understand and about things they’re specifically interested in - the more chance you have of increasing sales or landing your messages. AI tools can take on much of these processes which can really help fuel growth through your business communication channels.

Email automation - If your business requires timely comms around marketing campaigns, follow-ups or general customer outreach then AI can step in and help, with software available to help draft and schedule emails.

Transcription - Ever struggled to keep up with minute taking during a fast-paced meeting? Worry no more - AI can easily transcribe meetings and calls into text. It’s never been easier to capture key meeting insights and actions that can easily be turned into written content. 

Content creation - Without doing myself out of a job - AI can even help with writing blogs, newsletters and social media content. It might not have that human feel, and it’ll need thorough fact-checking - but it can be a handy starting point for content your business might need.

Marketing and sales

Websites have been collecting information on us - the user - for a long time. But AI can turn any data you might collect through your business website or social media into helpful actionable information, making AI for business marketing an important tool.

Targeted advertising - If you’re looking to improve conversion rates, AI can analyse any customer data you hold to identify audiences. With that you can work with AI on more personalised marketing campaigns and better optimised advertising. 

Find leads - AI can now order and prioritise potential customer leads by taking data from a range of sources. With this information, AI can sort leads by potential buying signals or other behaviours, helping your business focus on the more high-quality leads.

Data and analytics

Making the wrong decision because of a misinterpretation of data can lead to all sorts of problems. AI can reduce some of this risk by producing reports, dashboards and predictive models. The more information you have, presented in a way you can understand - the more likely it is you’ll be able to spot new growth opportunities. All of which combined will empower you to make confident decisions for your business.

Data processing and reporting - If you require analysis of large datasets to help you spot patterns or insights - AI’s got you covered. It can also generate real-time reports and dashboards. By quickly taking care of this analysis and giving you the findings, you can better understand all sorts of things, from customer behaviour to market trends.

Predictions and models - By collating historical data, AI can help your business forecast potential future events - including sales, market changes and demand. 

Product development

Product development is a fun and creative part of growing a business. Spotting issues with your current product range and developing new products are both important tasks in growing your business from a small idea into a big success. The starting point for product development is in taking feedback on board from either customers or through market research channels. AI can help extract insights from your customer feedback and spot trends or gaps in the market - meaning you can focus your efforts in the right place more quickly. 

Market research - In order to get ahead of the competition and continuously meet customer demand, AI can help identify gaps by analysing market data. This information might come from emerging trends, competitor strategies and latest market developments and can all help in keeping your business one step ahead.

Customer feedback analysis - A major part of product development is actioning customer feedback - and depending on what you do and how you gather feedback - it can make for a lot of pre-reading. AI can analyse feedback from a range of sources, including surveys you might carry out, social media mentions and customer reviews. You can then clearly see pain points and understand preferences which can be used to guide any product improvement.

The pros and cons of AI

Like with any technology, AI comes with its advantages and disadvantages. And while some of the pros are significant in helping save time and spotting new market trends to fuel growth - some of the cons raise ethical questions and concerns on where this technology could take us.

Pros

• Increased efficiency - Free up your time to focus on more important activities and let AI automate the more repetitive tasks

• Cost saving - Some of the more labour intensive tasks including data analysis, customer service management and marketing can be taken care of by AI, lowering the overall costs of running your business

• Improved customer service - By implementing chatbots - you can offer your customers round the clock support, helping to improve your customer satisfaction scores

• Decisions made quicker - By analysing data quickly and presenting it to you in easy to understand reports or dashboards - AI can help you with data-driven decision-making

Cons

• Set up costs - AI tools may require some upfront investment, be it to buy and implement the software or train your staff on how to use it. Additional costs like these might not be so easy for smaller businesses with limited budgets

• Complex systems - Some of the AI tools available are complex to set up and manage. You may need to hire someone with specialised knowledge to help get things up and running, especially in the early stages of adopting the technology

• Privacy concerns - You may need to funnel customer data into an AI tool and this raises concerns about both privacy and security. It’s important to understand the small print and ensure your business remains compliant with GDPR regulations

• Job redundancies - One of the broader ethical concerns with AI is: what happens to staff whose jobs can be done by AI? Certain tasks which can now be automated may lead to reduced demand for certain job roles, with workplace adjustments needed