A humanoid robot with artificial intelligence preparing coffee in a coffee shop.
getty
A recent study by the SBE Council, an advocacy, research, and education organization based in Washington, D.C., found that small business owners save a median of 5 hours per week individually, and their employees save a median of 11.5 hours per employee. The benefits of AI are well-documented, especially its time-saving appeal.
The same study found that two-thirds of small business owners reported an increase in revenue from implementing AI, and 22% saw a 10% increase in revenue. However, 29% reported no increase in revenue at all, raising questions for small business owners using AI. The question for small business owners is how to spend the extra time that AI has created to grow their business.
There are four growth levers you can use to accelerate your business’s bottom line.
Focus on improving customer relationships
In a business world full of chatbots, autoresponders, and virtual receptionists, it’s important that your personal relationships with your customers don’t feel automated. Take the time to call or text your customers to find out how their latest purchase or service experience went. By getting direct feedback from them, you can adjust how you provide and purchase services in the future. By spending time building a referral program for your business, you can establish a pipeline of free or low-cost leads from existing customers who sign up for compliments.
Referral programs can help you reduce your marketing spend while skyrocketing your revenue from warm leads who want to buy what your business sells. Evaluate areas in your business where you can add more of a personal touch, even if it was previously a low priority due to lack of time.
Consumers trust word of mouth more than any other type of advertising. According to Nielsen’s Global Trust in Advertising study, 92% of customers are willing to refer a company if they are satisfied with their experience. Focusing on customer relationships has a huge impact on revenue and customer lifetime value.
Reinvesting in competitiveness
The best way to stay competitive is to focus on cash flow. Cash flow is important in business because it allows investments in efficiencies that lead to better profits and higher productivity. If you have time, research better tools and equipment you can implement into your business to continue improving workflows across your company. Join industry associations to stay up-to-date on what the top companies in your industry are using to give themselves a competitive edge.
Consulting firm McKinsey & Co. has found that top-performing companies, defined as those that achieve 15% or more organic growth and 15% annual EBIT growth over a three-year period, are 2.5 times more likely to have developed a competitive advantage. This shows that the best performing companies focus intensely on their strategies to ensure maximum competitiveness within their industry. Small business owners who have more time to focus on strategy should reassess their company’s competitive advantage every 6 to 12 months and make adjustments on the fly.
Reinvest in growth stage
SBE Council research shows that 34% of small business owners with time on their hands use SBE to explore new market segments or add new offers. A willingness to adapt to your business is a key characteristic of successful entrepreneurs, and exploring ways to better serve your customers with adjacent products, services, or offerings can help you build a stronger revenue pipeline and create scalability where opportunities were previously limited.
If your business isn’t growing, it’s shrinking. This is because funding, inventory, and operating costs change from year to year, forcing business owners to find a variety of ways to increase revenue. Ways to diversify our revenue include adding service lines to our product lines, adding complementary products and services that enhance our core offerings, and finding strategic partners to help our products and services provide a better customer experience for our customers and stakeholders.
Reinvest in yourself as an owner
One of the most detrimental aspects of being a business owner with limited time is not reinvesting in self-education and learning. There are aspects of running a business that need to be fine-tuned to avoid disrupting your business. Many business owners do not receive leadership development training. This manifests itself in increased employee turnover, poor customer experience, and poor financial management. Another way to reinvest in yourself is to move away from low-value work that can be done by part-time administrators or virtual assistants. Stepping back from these low-value tasks allows you to see your business and its challenges in perspective. This helps you recognize bottlenecks and where to pursue more profitable business initiatives.
Don’t let idle time steal your business growth by pulling any of these four levers this quarter.
