It’s the wearing of many hats that makes for many challenges when it comes to creating a successful business.

Pip Edwards, the co-founder of fashion-forward activewear brand, P.E. Nation, highlighted the pains felt by any small business in its early stages. “When you’re founding a business and trying to set it all up, those admin parts, those contractual legal parts can become overwhelming,” she said. “You really have to think that you can’t answer all of those questions, and go out and seek the right advice and make sure you’re continually tapping into that.”

And that’s the key, one that many SME owners who wear all the hats get wrong: you need to build a network and a circle of trusted advisors for support.

However, for many small businesses, it is not a matter of wanting to seek advice, but rather the financial ability to seek it. Yet doing so is becoming more affordable, particularly as the likes of online-only offerings, AI and other technologies come to the fore.

Take bookkeeping. It’s an invaluable resource that every small business needs, but many SME owners think they need to do it themselves as they look to minimise external spending. But rather than ramping up knowledge of Xero or MYOB from scratch, a bookkeeper takes one of the more excruciating parts of the workload away from the business owner whose expertise usually lies with the product or service offering.

With many online-only options powered by AI now available, these types of operational duties have never been more affordable (or helpful) to outsource to technology.

Pip says that understanding the numbers is so important. The structure and process represent 80 per cent of the business’s success, and the concept 20 per cent. Then it’s up to the marketing to make that unique.

Marketing is a function that is often an afterthought for the busy small-business operator. Whilst it’s arguably the most critical function to a business’s ability to grow their customer base and create loyalty, for many, a dedicated marketing headcount or function would break the P&L.

For this reason, coupled with a lack of knowledge, this is the task they put off the most. A recent survey of small businesses across Australia, the US, the UK and Canada revealed that, marketing is the most likely activity ANZ small businesses will delay undertaking

One of the reasons behind this procrastination is a lack of expertise in marketing. The same survey found that the top issue preventing ANZ SMEs from adding more channels to their marketing mix is a lack of knowledge (37 per cent).

And that’s where third parties and, increasingly, technologies like AI can be a really powerful “advisor” to small businesses. AI-driven marketing tools built specifically for small businesses are becoming affordable for those with small budgets, minimal resources and even less time.

Some MartTech platforms are generating entire marketing plans and social-media recommendations, along with email campaigns including copy and images, or complementary SMS campaigns and social posts with AI-generated images. Importantly, as small businesses spend more time with these tools, the technology learns what the audiences are most likely to engage with, leading to intelligent recommendations that lead to more successful campaigns.

An additional survey Constant Contact survey late last year revealed that of those who have used AI in their marketing for over a year, 46 per cent found they saved time and worked more efficiently, 43 per cent found their business grew faster, and 38 per cent got to know their customers better.

The recent advances in AI have made data, analytics and insights accessible, easy to understand and affordable for everyone. The ability to both collate and consolidate data easily will allow business owners to understand their customers with greater depth, leverage their marketing and help alleviate the cumbersome administration of some business processes.

The key, ultimately, is for small businesses to lean on people and resources in order to be successful. As Pip Edwards said, “It’s overwhelming and seeking outside assistance is the best course of action.” In doing so SME owners can do less procrastinating and more of the activities that will allow them to grow their business.

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Small businesses are attuned to the buzz around artificial intelligence, and some are looking at it more intently than others. 

We recently surveyed small businesses and their customers and found that 26 per cent of all small businesses are already investing in AI and/or automation technology – and another 44 per cent would like to start. Larger small businesses are more likely to be using AI right now; 40 per cent of SMEs with more than 50 employees say they are using AI, compared with 30 per cent of those with 10 to 50 employees and 12 per cent with one to nine employees. 

But it’s this last cohort I want to focus on. While it’s encouraging that 12 per cent of businesses this size have adopted tools that are powered by AI, a full 88 per cent are yet to do so. And ironically, it’s these businesses that could benefit from AI the most.

Picture the traditional Aussie corner store, the florist, the small plumbing business with just a few employees, the market stall owner with a line of homemade organic cosmetics.  These businesses are often fledgling, with owners whose expertise rests in one area – their product or service. They don’t have any formal marketing training, so they often don’t know how to get the word out about their business so they can grow.

“AI can help segment contacts, explain customer behaviour, and identify trends in engagement.”

What small business can really afford a dedicated marketing function? To the average small business owner in this cohort, it’s simply not feasible, and they are left to rely on themselves to be the CEO, CFO and CMO all at the same time. Of course, this comes in addition to fulfilling orders, managing staff, greeting customers, and other daily tasks required to operate their business. 

This is where AI can work its magic. AI content generators are a prime example of the everyday usefulness of generative AI, which can accelerate the creative process with minor prompts. Something as simple as, “write me a creative email campaign about a 40 per cent sale for Christmas” will generate high-quality content. It’s a solid starting point for those who simply need to get going, so they can get back to doing what they do best – running their business.

For the growth-minded small-business owner who wants to take their marketing up a notch with AI, they can. Additional AI-driven marketing tools are built specifically for small businesses, and they are affordable for the sole trader selling flowers at the farmer’s markets and the bustling corner bakery alike. Some can even create entire email campaigns including copy and images, or complementary SMS campaigns and social posts with images. Furthermore, as SMEs spend more time with these tools, the technology learns what their customers are most likely to engage with and provides better recommendations that lead to more successful campaigns. And all for less than the cost of a bunch of flowers. 

That’s what makes that 88 per cent figure from earlier so intriguing – the tools exist to accelerate marketing for businesses with fewer than 10 employees, yet only a fraction of those businesses are using them. 

Why is this the case? 

AI has a perception problem, and a big part of that is how the technology is marketed. It’s a very buzzy term this year, but it feels out of reach for small businesses, both from an affordability and a technical understanding standpoint. People are being told it can help their businesses, but many still don’t understand exactly how to use it, and they understandably are hesitant. 

Our research shows that 74 per cent of small businesses are interested in using AI, with 55 per cent reporting that their interest grew in the six months prior to being surveyed. However, 80 per cent of those surveyed report having a beginner-to-intermediate understanding of how AI could potentially benefit their marketing efforts. This suggests that more education is needed.

For those that have begun using marketing tools that incorporate AI, the benefits are clear, and small businesses are seeing immediate results. Here are some examples.

Saving money

Small-business budgets are often tight, so their default is to think lean. Fortunately, AI is helping them stretch their budgets further. Our research found that 58 per cent of SMEs currently using AI in their marketing expect to save more than US$1000 ($1519) in the coming year. Another 28 per cent expect to save over US$5000.

 Get to know your customers better

We found that 38 per cent of small businesses that have been using AI-powered marketing tools for more than a year say they now know their customers better. The benefits are clear: It can help segment contacts, explain customer behaviour, and identify trends in engagement. All of this helps businesses send more effective and efficient marketing communications and build stronger, longer-lasting relationships with customers.

Save time, work more efficiently

The obvious benefit is that AI-enabled tools do much of the heavy lifting, often with just a few prompts, and our research bears this out: Of those businesses with fewer than 10 employees, 78 per cent report they have saved time and worked more efficiently since they started leveraging AI. But the biggest benefit to businesses, particularly those with just a few employees and no marketing experience, is being able to spend less time on marketing and more time on the areas that drive revenue for the business.

For small businesses that are yet to embrace AI, but are ready to start exploring their options, keep these tips in mind:

• Get AI-educated: Find a local partner that understands the SME space and can allow you to leverage AI without needing to leave its platform.
• Think cost vs benefit: Create a list of costs and benefits, quantify the time you might save which allows you to run your business better. 
• Go small business first: Prioritise platforms that have been built with small businesses in mind. 
• Weigh up the risk vs reward: There are risks with change and new technology, so ensure you know what they are, but ask yourself ‘What if it works?’, too. List the possible risks versus rewards and make an informed decision. 
• Experiment: Test and learn with a proven AI marketing platform. Be patient. The benefits are unlikely to happen overnight, but the data show that it will happen.

AI can do some of the heavy lifting while providing significant benefits to a small business at a time when every sale is crucial. It can be the growth engine that was thought to be out of reach, allowing small-business owners to get back to what they do best: running their business.

This article first appeared in issue 43 of the Inside Small Business quarterly magazine

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