Small Businesses Have Fewer Resources Than Big Companies. Here's How AI Can Fill the Gaps. Explore how generative AI, in combination with people, can empower small business owners to accomplish more in less time — and with fewer resources.
By Sonu Yadav Edited by Kara McIntyre
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Recent developments in generative AI have made it possible to create original content quickly and cost-effectively. Products like ChatGPT, GitHub Copilot and their underlying AI models, such as Stable Diffusion, DALL-E 2 and GPT-3, are bringing technology into a realm once thought to be reserved for humans.
With generative AI, small businesses can produce content such as blogs, package designs, computer code or even theories about production errors quickly and without the need for expensive human labor.
Generative AI technology offers small businesses several advantages when it comes to marketing and operations. It can speed up the content creation process, minimize errors, and help teams start tasks with more accuracy.
Here are a few ways generative AI could help small business owners.
Related: How Is Artificial Intelligence Revolutionizing Small Businesses?
1. Minimize the amount of time and resources needed to complete tasks
With generative AI, companies can quickly generate high-quality content that has been specifically tailored to their needs. This means they don't need long hours or extensive resources or staff to get results.
Additionally, generative AI helps streamline processes by taking over mundane or repetitive tasks such as data analysis and document generation. This allows employees to focus on higher-level projects without being sidetracked by tedious administrative duties that take away from other contributions they could be making within the business environment.
2. Understand how different variables impact your business
When running a successful business, it is essential to take into account different variables that can affect efficiency and profitability. This includes understanding consumer trends, competitive factors such as price points or features, operational costs and the cost of production.
Generative AI can help small business owners understand how different variables, such as location and customer preferences, may impact their operations. It offers powerful tools for helping businesses recognize patterns related to their industry or product categories to optimize processes and identify opportunities for innovation faster than manual methods.
Related: 3 Entrepreneurial Uses of Artificial Intelligence That Will Change Your Business
3. Ability to detect and respond to changes in the market
Generative AI is a powerful tool to gain an edge over potential competitors. It is capable of analyzing past and present trends, allowing business owners to detect changes in demand and other potential opportunities. Coupled with smart bots, it can be used to automate some processes for identifying and responding to changes in the market, freeing up employees to focus on other important aspects of the business.
It is a powerful tool for small businesses to gain greater precision when targeting customers with relevant offers while saving resources spent on inefficient marketing efforts. It can help reduce costs and increase efficiency while also providing valuable insights into how different variables can impact operations.
Applications of generative AI
Generative AI can be used in a variety of business functions, including marketing and sales, operations, IT/engineering and risk and legal.
- Marketing and sales: Generate personalized marketing content, such as text, images, or video. It can also be used to create customized sales materials, allowing businesses to target potential customers better.
- Operations: Create to-do lists for efficient execution of tasks, reducing the time required to complete them.
- IT/engineering: Assist in writing, documenting and reviewing code.
- Risk and legal: Help answer complex questions, identify potential risks and draft legal documents for use in contracts or regulations. It can also pull from large amounts of legal documentation and generate documents more quickly.
Generative AI can provide an invaluable tool for small business owners looking to reduce costs, improve efficiency and gain access to valuable insights into their operations.
Related: AI Wrote Half of This Article. Here's Why Entrepreneurs Should Take Note
Getting started with generative AI
Generative AI is a promising technology for all small businesses, but it requires dedication and resources to implement it successfully. Here are some tips to help you get started.
1. Conduct an AI audit
Start by conducting an in-depth audit of your businesses to identify different areas where AI can have the most impact. This will also help you identify opportunities for improvement and prioritize tasks to focus on.
For instance, if you run an ecommerce business, you can consider implementing generative AI to create product descriptions and titles.
2. Develop an AI strategy
Once you have identified key areas to be addressed, develop a strategy for implementing generative AI. Make sure to consider how the technology can help reduce costs and increase efficiency as well as the potential risks associated with it.
3. Evaluate different tools and platforms
Artificial intelligence is a continuously evolving field. It's crucial to evaluate different tools and platforms to determine which one best meets your needs. Talk to experts, read reviews and test different solutions before making a final decision.
Tools like ChatGPT and Jasper are great starting points for small business owners looking to create content quickly and efficiently, while services such as OpenAI and Google Cloud AI can help to create more sophisticated models.
4. Establish clear policies and procedures
It's crucial to establish clear policies and procedures for using generative AI. This includes training employees and setting guidelines for collecting and using data. Additionally, make sure to have regular reviews and audits in place to ensure that the technology is being used safely and ethically.
Generative AI is transforming the way small businesses operate. Many businesses are already using AI tools like ChatGPT to improve conversion rates while gaining a better understanding of the market. However, its successful implementation requires dedication and additional resources, so make sure to do your research and find the right tools and platforms for your needs.
