With talent shortages impacting 48% of small business owners’ operational capacity and continued high inflation rates putting a strain on their finances, many small business owners are leveraging AI tools to free up their team’s time and resources for higher-priority tasks. The Small Business & Entrepreneurship (SBE) Council’s 2023 Small Business AI Adoption Survey, found that 75% of small businesses use AI tools, saving their teams a collective 6.33 billion hours and $273.5 billion annually.
“From a human capital perspective, AI tools help in two ways: Filling workplace gaps that exist because of labor shortages, and … improving worker productivity and the workplace experience,” said Karen Kerrigan, President and CEO of the SBE Council and a judge for the U.S. Chamber CO— 100: America’s Top 100 Small Businesses.
[Read more: Ready. Set. Scale. How Small Business Can Leverage AI]
How small businesses are leveraging AI to fill operational gaps
From chatbot deployment and social media management to predictive analytics and language translation, AI tools help businesses streamline their operations and automate repetitive tasks so their teams can focus on bigger-picture growth and innovation.
The SBE Council’s data found that the average small business uses four different AI tools. Survey respondents cited nearly 20 different areas where they’re using AI to support business operations, the top four of which are financial management (40%), email marketing automation (32%), cybersecurity (32%), and inventory management (28%)
Small businesses that have embraced AI say they’ve experienced these benefits:
- Improved decision-making.
- Increased competitiveness against larger organizations.
- Improved customer service and acquisition efforts.
- Strengthened data security.
- More personalized customer experiences.
“Prioritizing needs, taking small steps with AI in terms of where it can benefit the business the most — those top pain points — and building out intelligently to ensure automation across the business is working together is important,” Kerrigan said.
[Read more: How to Encourage Your Employees to Use AI at Work]
AI is a powerful tool that can positively support the business across operations, but business owners should never relinquish full control, for a variety of legal and management reasons.
Karen Kerrigan, President and CEO of the SBE Council
Finding the right balance between human talent and AI
While leveraging AI poses many opportunities, business leaders must ensure they don’t replace human brainpower, but rather embrace the technology to complement their workforce’s skills.
Identify and prioritize tasks where AI can reduce workplace friction
Embracing the right AI tools can help small business owners to “de-stress” their workplace and add meaning to employees’ work. Employees are likely to be more motivated and productive when offered solutions that improve workflows.
“To support the productivity and work satisfaction of employees,... identify and prioritize the friction and pain points within… [your] operations where AI automation can perform time-consuming or mundane tasks,” Kerrigan explained.
Determine how the time saved can be better spent by you and your employees
Look for problems in your business, such as bottlenecks, operational redundancies, or procedures that could be streamlined, and determine how you’d rather allocate that time to more important responsibilities. When leveraged properly, AI tools can save small business owners a median of 13 employee hours and 13 personal hours per week, according to SBE Council data.
“Utilizing AI tools … allows both the [business] owner and their employees to focus more of their time and energy on high-value tasks and work … that improves competitiveness, profitability, growth, and customer engagement,” Kerrigan told CO—.
If you’re not sure where to start, it can help to ask other business owners in your industry how they’re leveraging AI and what specific tools they’re using. Ask about their experiences and use cases, as their needs may differ from yours.
Always maintain human oversight of any tool you use
Kerrigan stressed the importance of maintaining human review and oversight of the AI tool’s output.
“AI is a powerful tool that can positively support the business across operations, but business owners should never relinquish full control, for a variety of legal and management reasons,” Kerrigan cautioned.
With the right combination of human talent and AI-powered tools, small business owners can transform their business practices, driving growth and innovation well into the future.
“Indeed, AI is a disruptive technology,” Kerrigan said. “The business owners who embrace, rather than fear, this powerful new technology will harness extraordinary benefits that will bring their business new opportunities, and with that greater growth.”
[Read more: What's the Difference Between Traditional and Generative AI?]
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