Froilan Mendoza is Founder and Chief Technology Officer of Support solutions.
Small businesses are the backbone of the American economy. They represent 99.9% of all businesses in the country, represent 43.5% of GDP and employ nearly half of the American workforce. Yet small business owners have always had to overcome obstacles to survive and succeed. Lack of capital is responsible for 38% of small business bankruptcies. Labor costs account for 70% of their expenses, and a national labor shortage of 2 million workers exacerbates the difficulty of recruiting and retaining talent.
The good news is that AI levels the playing field for small businesses, providing them with easy-to-use tools to optimize their processes and scale their organization without the need for huge teams or budgets. A 2024 study of the United States Chamber of Commerce found that 98% of small businesses are already using an AI-based tool, and 91% of owners say AI will fuel their business’s future growth. The use of generative AI tools, such as chatbots and image makers, increased by 40% last year.
Key AI Use Cases for Small Businesses
Ten years ago, starting a business without a team to support product development, marketing, or customer support was an uphill battle. Now AI can augment your internal resources so you can do more with less. Here are four ways to use AI to expand your team’s capabilities.
1. Product Development and Coding
In the past, you needed at least one technical person on your team to turn product ideas into working prototypes. New AI coding assistants remove this barrier, allowing you to describe a concept, generate a design mockup, and deploy it with working code in less than an hour without technical expertise. The ability to create an immediate feedback loop is a huge business advantage. Instead of investing a lot of time and money in product development, you can quickly test and validate your idea with customers to see if it works or not.
2. Customer Support
AI-powered customer support agents can help you expand your team without hiring more employees. Founders are often the ones who know their product best, but the information may be spread across various documents. AI models can process structured and unstructured data to create a robust knowledge base from which to respond to customer requests 24/7. Since AI systems are always learning, you can continue to add information and improve the model as you encounter new questions.
3. Competitive analysis
Your business doesn’t exist in a vacuum and it’s always a good idea to keep an eye on what your competitors are doing. AI tools can monitor features such as competitor pricing, feature development, and industry trends in real time, making dynamic adjustments based on defined parameters. AI democratizes market intelligence, enabling small businesses to make more informed, data-driven decisions.
4. Marketing
AI can help your team develop and execute more effective marketing strategies, regardless of the size of your business. Content creation tools can be a starting point for social media updates, personalized emails, and blog posts. Automated systems can analyze customer data and ad performance to optimize campaign targeting and spending. By reducing the manual tasks your employees must manage, you free up more time for creative and strategic activities.
Best practices for AI adoption
AI technology is still new and continually evolving and improving. You shouldn’t put all your trust in AI or let a shiny new tool distract you from the main product you’re creating. Human insight and oversight remain invaluable as you optimize and scale your business. Implement the following strategies to get the most out of this technology.
1. Start small and grow gradually
Before deploying AI tools to your entire customer base, first focus on a specific subgroup representative of a broader audience. For example, you might test a customer support system with users under the age of 25 in New York City or another targeted demographic. Once you’ve collected data and made adjustments to the model, you can extend it to a larger group of customers.
2. Personalize customer experiences
If your competitors are also using the same AI systems, you need to find a unique competitive advantage. Stand out from the crowd by leveraging AI-generated data and insights to personalize your customers’ experience with your product. If you see customers interacting with a certain feature on your website, for example, you can contact them to ask for feedback or offer praise. The more you understand your customers’ preferences, behaviors, and pain points, the easier you can create a personalized experience for them.
3. Test and validate with a human touch
AI is a valuable asset, but it will never replace human connection. Test and validate your product with AI, then use real customer service interactions to continue improving the model. Ultimately, you are trying to develop a product that your customers want to buy and use. Don’t underestimate the power of human awareness to improve the customer experience.
If you’re still not sure where to start with AI, just give it a try. Experiment with a tool, such as a customer support chatbot, and see if the benefits outweigh the risks. Always prioritize the customer experience. If you find that an AI model doesn’t have the right data or functionality to meet customer needs and is creating frustration rather than value, try something else. Stay focused on continuous improvement to make the user experience as smooth as possible.
Forbes Technology Council is an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs and technology executives. Am I eligible?