As a small business owner, you wear a lot of hats and probably work a lot of hours to get it all done… and you still have a lot left on your plate. Until you’re ready to hire on more help (let’s talk about that soon!), you can leverage simple-to-use, free online AI tools to take some of that work off of your plate or get it done faster.
I know what you’re probably thinking… Isn’t AI going to take over all of our jobs, overthrow humanity, and plug us all into the Matrix so we can fuel their machines? Fret not. AI is here to provide time-saving benefits that you can use right now.
As a small business owner, AI technology can provide valuable insights into market trends, streamline your operations, and improve customer engagement. By leveraging AI for your business, you can adapt to a changing market, stay in touch with your customers, and save yourself valuable time.
Keep reading to learn 5 ways you can start using AI in your business.
1. Speed Up Your Market Research
Market research is crucial for businesses of all sizes to understand their target audience and stay ahead of the competition. By getting insights into what your customers think of your business and what they’d like to see done differently you can make informed decisions about how to run your company and how to improve your services.
Rather than spending hours sifting through customer service surveys or researching which products you sold the most last year, AI can do these repetitive and time-intensive tasks for you.
For example, AI can provide valuable insights into consumer preferences and behavior by analyzing information you provide it from:
- Social media
- Customer surveys and reviews
- Sales data and loss statements
All you need to do is type or paste text into an AI program like ChatGPT. And don’t worry, you don’t need to be tech-savvy to do this – you can use everyday language to instruct the software to generate responses.
For example, if you’re wondering what area of your business needs the most improvement, you could copy and paste your business’s Google reviews into ChatGPT and ask it: “What criticism of my business comes up the most in these online reviews?”
The software will give a summary or bulleted list of the areas of your business that get the most critiques. You could also ask it what your customer’s like most about your business to make sure you keep up your great service.
2. Brainstorm Faster and More Creatively
As a business owner, your creativity and business finesse are essential parts of keeping your company running. But it can be challenging to come up with fresh ideas when you have a million other things to manage. ( Just getting dinner on the table probably feels like a challenge some days!)
Even if you have a team dedicated to brainstorming your next sales pitch or seasonal campaign, this process can take hours to turn a raw idea into something your company can use.
By using AI, you can cut your brainstorming time in half and help you rethink and edit your ideas in ways you might not have considered before.
For example, maybe you own a bakery and want to promote a new cupcake flavor for the holiday season, but can’t think of anything original. You can use ChatGPT to help brainstorm ideas and refine those ideas based on the information you provide it.
For example, if you type “give me 5 winter holiday cupcake flavors” into ChatGPT, it provides you with the following response:
“Sure, here are five winter holiday cupcake flavors:
- Peppermint Mocha – A chocolate cupcake with peppermint frosting and a hint of coffee flavor.
- Gingerbread – A spiced cupcake made with ginger and nutmeg, topped with cream cheese frosting.
- Eggnog – A vanilla cupcake infused with eggnog and topped with a whipped cream frosting.
- Cranberry Orange – A orange-flavored cupcake with cranberry frosting and a twist of orange zest.
- Caramel Apple – A spiced apple cupcake with caramel frosting and a drizzle of caramel sauce on top.”
Is your mouth watering? Now, if I type in, “What other frosting flavors go well with an eggnog cupcake?” ChatGPT tells me…
“There are several frosting flavors that go well with an eggnog cupcake. Here are a few ideas:
- Cream Cheese Frosting
- Vanilla Buttercream
- Cinnamon Frosting
- Nutmeg Frosting
- Rum Buttercream”
You can continue to narrow down or broaden the responses ChatGPT gives you until you find an option that suits your needs – or feel inspired by an idea that’s all your own.
The possibilities are endless. And rather than smothering your creativity, AI technology can help inspire even more ideas. Think of it like your own personal focus group or creative team. And by streamlining your business’s idea-creation process, you can come up with innovative ideas faster and more efficiently than ever before.
This can save you countless hours and free up more time to focus on improving and growing your business. If you aren’t sure where to focus the extra time, give me a call. As a Creative Business Consultant with a focus in strategic business planning, it’s my passion to discover your business needs and make a plan to grow it into the business you’ve always dreamed of.
If you are reading this and wondering whether you can use AI in your business to replace your business lawyer, in some cases you can, and in others you can’t. If your current business lawyer isn’t more than a robot themselves or is only reactive rather than proactive, maybe you can!
But, if you want proactive, creative business support to help you see where you may have holes in your legal, insurance, financial, and tax foundations, stay tuned for next week’s article when we look at some of the legal applications for AI in your business, and why you’ll still want a lawyer by your side.
A Trusted Advisor for Your Business
Keeping up with changes in technology can be overwhelming, but as your lawyer and business advisor, I’m here to help you navigate the world of new technology and leverage it to help your business succeed.
Whether you own a small startup or an expanding enterprise, every business experiences different seasons of growth and needs different tools to get the job done. That’s why it’s important to try out new technology like AI and work with a team that supports your business through all of its stages.
Make sure to check back next week to read the next 3 uses for AI in your small business that you can start using right away.
If you can’t wait to get more guidance from a trusted business advisor, Click this link to schedule your LIFT Business Breakthrough Session™. We’ll help you strengthen your business and your vision for it by identifying your business’s risks, planning for its growth, and helping you build a business and life you love.
