Time is money, and using AI for small businesses can be a game changer for saving time and cutting down on resources.
In fact, 65% of organizations say they regularly use generative AI, and as its capabilities evolve, AI for small businesses will only become more prevalent.
Small business owners are at the forefront of real-world AI applications, using them to create websites, automate admin, do research, screen job candidates, and increase productivity across the board.
If you’ve only dabbled with ChatGPT or have yet to figure out how to leverage AI tools, let’s dive into the different ways small businesses are making money with AI.
Current State of AI in Small Businesses
There’s no denying that AI adoption is quickly gaining momentum. But how exactly are small businesses using AI tools?
According to data from PYMNTS, 61% of small businesses use AI to automate daily tasks.
With the number of small tasks that small businesses have on their plates, it’s no surprise why people are turning to AI.
AI tools can help businesses of all sizes generate content, conduct research, and automate things like emails or meetings. With this, small businesses can focus on the money-making tasks they enjoy.
While AI tools aren’t always perfect and can require a human touch, they can significantly reduce the time it normally takes to complete tedious tasks that small business owners don’t have the time or resources for. Ultimately, AI should be viewed as a supporting tool rather than a replacement.
6 Ways Small Businesses Are Using AI to Make More Money
Your line of business may be so far removed from technology like ChatGPT that you might as well be on different planets.
“What does AI have to do with installing and maintaining in-ground sprinklers?” you may ask, or, “Why would I need ChatGPT to help me sell vintage fabric on Etsy?”
AI probably won’t revolutionize the bread and butter of your business, the day-to-day work you do to keep earning revenue, but you can use AI to make money by letting it handle other time-consuming tasks, like:
- Helping you attract new customers, no matter what type of business you run, with inexpensive marketing
- Automating administrative tasks so you have free time to devote to your most profitable operations
- Answering your questions so you can make informed decisions, explore new revenue streams, or improve your industry knowledge
Here are 6 ways to start using AI to make money for your business now.
#1. Marketing Automation
According to Constant Contact’s State of SMB Marketing Report, 56% of small businesses say they only have one hour or less each day to spend on marketing.
An hour a day is not nearly enough time to squeeze in all of your marketing tasks — from creating social media content to maintaining your website to writing blog posts.
This is where AI tools can save the day.
AI marketing tools can help you get the most out of your marketing without spending any extra time on it. You can use AI to help with everything from generating content to scheduling social media posts and optimizing your email marketing.
For example, Durable’s AI Website Builder helps you build a fully functioning website in just 30 seconds. It comes with built-in SEO, millions of images to choose from, branding features, and much more.
You can also use Durable to start a blog. A blog is the perfect marketing tool for businesses that want to share educational content and improve their search rankings. With Durable’s AI Blog Builder, you can launch your blog and generate dozens of search-friendly posts in an instant.
Simply put, AI marketing tools help you save time and make money.
#2. Customer Service and Engagement
If you’ve ever spent hours helping a customer over the phone or email, you know how time-consuming this can be.
Providing excellent customer service is critical for small businesses, but if you have a small team, you might not have the bandwidth for 24/7 support.
That’s where chatbots can help. Chatbots are AI-powered tools that enable you to respond to customer inquiries instantly. You can set up a chatbot on your website or social media — wherever customers reach out to you most — to answer frequently asked questions.
Facebook offers automated message features if you’re interested in an easy way to try AI for customer service.
AI also plays a key role in customer engagement. Whether you need to respond to leads or follow up with a customer you haven’t heard from in a while, AI tools can help you automate the process.
#3. Administrative Tasks
How great would it be to have your own administrative assistant? Someone who manages your schedule, organizes your inbox, and takes notes during meetings. Most importantly, someone who can shoulder the burden of admin so you can focus on the work that earns your business the most revenue.
AI hasn’t quite reached the point where it will replace full-time assistants. But if there’s no room in your budget for hiring a human, that shouldn’t matter: AI tools can handle many of the same tasks at a fraction of the cost.
Here are a few time-consuming tasks AI tools can help with:
- Taking online meeting notes
- Transcribing conversations
- Email management
- Meeting scheduling
For example, if you find yourself in a lot of Zoom meetings with clients, business partners, or employees, you can use a tool like Fireflies.ai to transcribe and summarize your conversations in real-time. This allows you to engage in the conversation as it’s happening and revisit the AI notes later.
Are you a service provider with a lot of appointments or house calls? Motion uses AI to help you arrange your schedule in the most efficient way possible.
Or maybe you could use help organizing your inbox. SaneBox is an AI-powered email management tool that automatically sorts your incoming emails based on importance. If your goal is to achieve inbox zero, an AI tool like this is essential.
#4. Automating Invoices and Contracts
Another tedious task for small business owners is creating and sending documents like contracts and invoices.
When you have to send frequent invoices for jobs or send contracts to new clients, AI tools can help you speed up the process — which ultimately helps you save time and money.
For contracts, there are several tools that can help you draft a contract in just a few minutes. Contractable, for example, uses AI to generate a legal contract that you can personalize based on your industry and needs.
When it comes to invoicing, Durable offers a seamless invoicing tool that’s built into the AI-driven platform. In addition to the marketing automation tools, you can also create invoices from the easy-to-use platform.
#5. Industry and Market Research
No matter what type of business you run, you’re bound to come up with an industry-specific question once in a while.
Instead of going down the rabbit hole yourself, you can use ChatGPT to quickly find the answers you’re looking for.
Let’s say you want to see what’s trending in your industry. You can ask ChatGPT to sum up the latest trends so you can get instant insights.
Keep in mind that ChatGPT isn’t perfect and doesn’t always have the most recent data. This tool should be used as a starting point in your brainstorming process rather than something you fully rely on.
#6. Customer Research
You can also use AI to learn more about your customers.
There are several social listening tools that employ AI for sentiment analysis, brand mentions, and trending conversations. These can help you understand what your customers think about your brand, what they’re interested in, and what’s trending in the industry.
If you want to go the budget-friendly route, you can try using ChatGPT for customer research. For example, you can download online customer reviews and ask ChatGPT to summarize the main pain points. Doing this can help you understand patterns and come up with solutions in minutes instead of spending hours conducting this research yourself.
For small businesses, AI tools are a game-changer. Whether you use them for marketing or customer service, AI-powered tools can save you tons of time which ultimately saves you money.
With AI assistance, you can focus your energy on the work you do best to generate profit while AI works in the background to streamline everything else.
Generating a website with Durable is the easiest way for small businesses to see how helpful AI is. With our AI website builder, you can have a functioning, well-designed website up and running in minutes — not weeks or months.
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