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No matter what kind of small business you run, artificial intelligence can save you both time and money. Artificial intelligence is not the out-of-control, world-destroying technology portrayed in various movies and TV shows, but is actually just a means by which humans can program machines to make life easier and more efficient. I’m sorry.
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This is especially true for small businesses. Small businesses often operate on tight budgets, low margins and extreme time pressure. If you’ve been afraid to use AI in the past, or are simply new to it, take a look at the different ways AI can help your small business save money.
sales and marketing
One of the main strengths of artificial intelligence is its ability to collect relevant data and tailor it to the needs of your business. For example, AI can analyze the characteristics of an ideal customer and develop sales and marketing materials optimized for this type of customer. Efficient marketing materials not only increase sales, but they also take the design and presentation burden off the general workforce, allowing them to spend their time instead focusing on activities that contribute to the company’s revenue generation.
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customer survey
Understanding how and why your customers buy your products and services is a great way to efficiently increase your bottom line as a small business. However, this large number of variables can be difficult to grasp in isolation. One of AI’s greatest skills is numbers, so it could be just the tool small businesses need to analyze and interpret customer behavior.
AI may find answers to generate additional sales for your business, such as adjusting prices, improving product quality, or opening stores in specific regions.
Task execution
Artificial intelligence can help you perform tasks in two ways. First, data can be organized into manageable lists that are easy for personnel to handle. More advanced AI may actually be able to perform some or all of these tasks. Such efficiency measures, by definition, save costs because the work is either completed by AI or assembled by employees to facilitate their work.
risk analysis
A great use of artificial intelligence in SMEs is in the area of risk analysis and management. AI can be used to identify areas where a company may be operating out of bounds, reducing the risk of fines or even more serious fines. You can also review and create legal documents.
software tracking
Artificial intelligence isn’t necessarily fancy machines that look like they have a mind of their own. In fact, artificial intelligence plays a role behind the scenes in American life in many ways. When it comes to business, even “simple” software programs can take advantage of AI to help them perform their tasks more efficiently.
For example, the popular accounting program QuickBooks has AI built into it to power many of its features, from cash flow planning to receipt scanning to mileage tracking and more.
Other software programs help small businesses do everything from saving on electricity bills to optimizing work schedules.
trend mapping
Proper analysis of customer and market trends can make the difference between profit and loss for small businesses. AI can effectively scrutinize the large amounts of data needed to properly identify trends and weed out irrelevant ones, all of which can be performed much faster and more accurately than humans can.
Companies wishing to perform their own analysis can have AI process all the numbers and generate reports for additional review by human resources.
Conclusion
In the small business world, AI should be embraced, not feared. We should be able to increase profits by having AI handle tasks faster or more efficiently than our human employees. However, we also need to be aware of the limitations of AI.
AI gets a lot of media coverage, but at the end of the day, AI is essentially a computing system. And, as the old saying goes, “When garbage comes in, garbage comes out.” Setting up AI with the wrong parameters can result in data that isn’t actually beneficial to your company. This is why AI analysis and implementation will always require a human component.
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