The Implications of Artificial Intelligence for Small Businesses

Introduction

Unless you are completely off the grid, AI is likely to influence some part of your daily life, whether you realize it or not. According to a recent global consumer survey, only 33% of technology users believe they use an AI-enabled product or service, one way or the other.

Have you ever wondered how your phone autocompletes words while you type a text message? Or the speed at which digital assistants on an internet chatbot respond to your queries?

Artificial intelligence is the answer. AI is all over these days, and it’s only becoming more dominant.

Artificial intelligence is revamping how business models function. Just take a good peek into our personal lives! It’s not only the mega-organizations with large finances, but AI is also predominant in small businesses of various industries.

What is Artificial Intelligence or AI?

Artificial intelligence or AI is a computation strategy of programming machines or devices to execute activities or reply to queries in a human-like manner. AI can produce being-like reactions by gathering thousands of data points and establishing rules (say, an algorithm) for the problem-solving process based on human neural networks.

It has been around since the late 1950s, even though it appears to be a new technology. AI is known by various names, including machine learning, deep learning, and cognitive computing, depending on the processes they utilise to be implemented.

How AI can assist you in running a smarter small business

While it may seem that artificial intelligence is only used by large corporations such as Google or Microsoft, contrary to this popular belief, these mega-corporations invest millions of dollars in developing AI to bring it to the general population. Consequently, it is fast becoming a valuable and inexpensive asset for small enterprises.

Let’s run you through how you can use machine intelligence to turn the tide for your startup’s efficiency and profitability.

●  Sales

You can’t talk about marketing without mentioning its rightful counterpart, sales. Because there is so much overlap across these business areas, it isn’t easy to separate them like two peas in a pod.

Artificial intelligence for sales is a well-established notion that goes hand in hand with AI for marketing. Owing to that, it’s another extraordinary method to get into the field of AI without feeling overwhelmed.

●  Marketing

For years, Artificial Intelligence has played a crucial role in marketing sectors. For startups, AI is a reliable concept to turbo up a notch!

There are several Email marketing tools available that can help you to integrate into modern POS systems and eCommerce platforms. You may use the tools to build segmented or more streamlined email lists. It helps you break down physical and online customer lists into smaller groups, such as by demographic region.

Segregating your email lists will allow you to send more personalized emails to your customers. For example, if you’re organizing a special event in your store, sending an email to out-of-state customers might not seem to be the best bang for your buck, isn’t it?

Automation can be used to take a calculative leap further. You may use email automation to construct emails that are sent automatically in response to a subscriber’s action, inactivity, or a certain date.

A programmed reaction is triggered when a subscriber makes a specific action. This continues until the potential client gets converted to a customer.

●   Personalized User Experience

You can also utilise AI tools to track users as they navigate your website and analyse their behaviour.

These precious insights can assist you in providing more personalised customer knowledge because stats suggest that 80% of customers are more likely to make a purchase if brands offer personalized experiences.

●  Customer Support

It is not the end of the world if you don’t have a dedicated sales team. There are enough tools available to fill up the gap. For instance, a popular sales tactic is utilising chatbots. They pop up and emerge when a user visits your webpage to offer discounts and attend to their queries.

Chatbots are equivalent to having sales staff appointed 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It is by far the most promising communication medium that handles 68.9% of the chats from start to finish, with a customer satisfaction rate of 87.58%.

●  Risk Management

Reduced risk is essential for small firms just getting off the ground, especially during the present economic downturn. AI may be extremely useful for small firms that require specialised and accurate predictions due to its focus on pattern recognition and trend forecasting.

Because startups have limited cash buffers, a miscalculation, a late payment, or even rapid development can result in a fatal liquidity shortage. Cash flow planners can help small businesses anticipate their daily cash flow 90 days in advance, which can assist in managing this problem. Small business owners can utilise these to forecast outgoing expenses 90 days in advance.

These planners can recommend short-term financing algorithms. Other perks include deferring a bill or generating an invoice instead of relying on an employee to do it.

●  Simplified Human Resource Task

Finally, let’s discuss a less obvious sector of business where AI is steadily making inroads — Human Resources (HR). Candidate screening and staff communication aren’t often thought of as having the same direct consequence on a company’s bottom line as sales and marketing.

However, recruiting is a crucial expenditure, and employee turnover can have a significant financial impact on an organisation that’s just starting up.

AI-powered tools can help you swiftly sift through hundreds of resumes in no time. With negligible to no errors, you can cherry-pick the most promising applicants. How convenient is that?

Wrapping Up

The AI industry could be worth more than $15.7 trillions by 2030. However, the technology adoption heavily depends on the knowledge base industries and the academia can nurture. Thus, Students and Professionals become a critical driver of this paradigm shift, that benefits them as well with innumerous job opportunities.

On the other hand, it is just as essential for smaller firms to adapt to changing realities as AI offers them the chance to compete on an equal footing with the larger firms. For now, AI is perceived as an edge over the competitors, but in the years to come it would become the quintessential phenomena determining who survives and who does not.

Thus, small firms should actively explore AI solutions and leverage this technology to its fullest potential. With the benefit of no side effects, AI is the best thing ever since sliced bread.

About Ankush Singla:
Ankush Singla, who is the Co-founder of Coding Ninjas, built the company three years ago into a
leading Ed-tech platform in India multi-folding its growth and unleashed the magic of technology by
training young aspirants across sectors. His leadership shines through giving new dimensions to techeducation in India by creating a state-of-the-art learning management platform to deliver world-class learning experience for students. A machine learning expert, Ankush has carved a niche for himself in
the Ed-tech sector with an expertise in new-age technology. Prior to Coding Ninjas, he was associated
with global brands such as Facebook and Amazon. Throughout his career, Ankush has focused on
enhancing skills especially to bridge the gap required for a career in technology.