How Small Businesses Can Make AI & Other Tech Their Ally

Small businesses have an unmatched role in the socio-economic status of a nation. They create many job opportunities, boost the economy by gross domestic product (GDP), and drive innovation. Additionally, small businesses form about 97% of the total number of companies and approximately 33.3% have an annual turnover between $220,000 and $2,000,000.

Despite the significance that small businesses possess, they, however, are prone to substantial challenges. Some of these include a lack of a business plan, difficulty in recruiting talented staff, having trouble standing out in the market, pivoting to a new business model, overreliance on a small stable of customers, declining profits amid increasing operational costs, and lack of understanding in financial management among others.

In today’s fast–paced world, where technology such as artificial intelligence (AI) is seamlessly being adopted into all facets of life, small businesses can leverage this trend to enhance their business acumen. Also, managers of small businesses can enrol in courses such as an online Master of Business Administration to stay current with trends.  

Best Tech Tools for Small Businesses

There are a myriad of tools available for small businesses to adopt in their efforts to remain afloat amidst the challenges they face.

ChatGPT

ChatGPT, an AI-powered chatbot developed by OpenAI and released for public use on November 30, 2022, utilises machine learning to produce human–like text based on prompts it receives.

Small businesses can use ChatGPT in drafting emails, writing bespoke articles, brainstorming ideas, answering questions, and assisting in tutoring subjects of all kinds. It is important to note that all responses generated by ChatGPT are unique.

ChatGPT is a superb tool for small businesses. It supports 50+ languages, has a vast database of knowledge, humanoid conversational capability, iterative learning capabilities, and natural language comprehension.

Moreover, ChatGPT is free to access, so small businesses can enjoy its benefits at no cost.

DALL.E 2

DALL.E 2 is an AI tool that creates realistic images and art solely from a descriptive prompt. Just like ChatGPT, DALL.E 2 was developed by ChatGPT.

This AI tool possesses the capabilities of generating high-quality images with text prompts, understanding, and responding to complex prompts, the generation of images in a variety of styles.

Small businesses can incorporate this AI tool into their graphic design needs, especially when it comes to the creation of posters for social media. DALL.E 2 is free to use, however, to access its full capabilities, $15 is required per month.

Slack

Slack is a tool that is used for team collaboration. It provides an avenue for constant communication between team members which leads to an increase in team productivity and efficiency.

Small businesses can harness the power of this tool mainly because it is free to use, has seamless integration with Google Drive to disseminate files, assists in setting up reminders, and uses Slack bots to handle trivial team tasks.

Slack offers a customised subscription for small businesses to thrive within the market.

Asana

Asana on the other hand is a great tool for team management, project management, file storage, and collaboration. Asana is a great asset for small businesses mainly because small business managers would not have to write bulky emails to assign tasks once they adopt Asana in their team management.

It serves as a pedestal for team members to work faster to achieve goals and handle difficult tasks together.

The key features of Asana include breaking down work into tasks and assigning them to team members, organising tasks into projects for creating roadmaps and timelines, reviewing milestones and monitoring team progress, receiving timely project updates, and having a firsthand overview of the project.

Asana has a free plan, so small businesses can jump on this bandwagon to push their business frontiers.

Notion

Notion, just like Slack and Asana, is a great tool for team collaboration. However, Notion is slightly different with the integration of AI into its workflow.

Notion offers a variety of features that make it an excellent project management tool for small businesses. Some of these features include task and project tracking, task prioritisation and assignment, calendar integration, project documentation and knowledge base, real-time collaboration, commenting and mentions, and status updates and progress tracking.

There are a variety of ready-made and customizable templates designed by the Notion team available for small businesses to use.

It is a powerful tool that is free to use for small businesses, however, as the business expands there is a per-user fee of $8 per month.

AppyPie

AppyPie is an AI application-building tool. Small businesses with no coding experience can create mobile apps, websites, chatbots, and graphic designs.

The interface of AppyPie involves no coding at all, just drag and drop to reach the desired application end goal. It can design applications for both the Android and iPhone operating systems. Furthermore, the reusability and scalability of AppyPie are top-notch.

Small businesses can utilise AppyPie to eliminate the need for costly IT engineers.

 In wrapping up, it's clear that small businesses are poised for significant growth by smartly using technology and artificial intelligence (AI). With accessible tools like ChatGPT, DALL.E 2, Slack, Asana, Notion, and AppyPie, small enterprises have the power to overcome common obstacles, spark innovation, and scale their operations efficiently. These technologies offer affordable ways to boost operational efficiency, engage with customers more effectively, and stay competitive in an ever-changing digital world. Embracing AI and tech tools is more than just keeping up with trends; it's about actively leveraging the latest advancements to drive business success. By adapting to and incorporating these technologies, small businesses are not just surviving; they're setting themselves up for a thriving future, proving that technology and AI are crucial allies in their growth journey.