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We know that AI—and AI-powered tools—provide opportunities for small and medium sized businesses (SMBs). Similar to the way the internet revolutionized the way SMBs operate, AI has the power to transform businesses and help them gain a significant edge.

The good news is that we’re seeing most SMBs embrace AI – a recent survey from the Small Business and Entrepreneurship Council shows 75 percent of surveyed SMBs use AI tools to help their operations, from financial management to cybersecurity. And, they’re finding value as noted in another poll from the Bipartisan Policy Center which shows that 83 percent of SMBs who use AI say it has been helpful in improving systems, increasing efficiency, and helping produce content.

But many small businesses are still reluctant to try AI tools. In a recent Rumor Has It survey of NYC Main Street businesses, Next Street found that 17% of small businesses are not planning to adopt AI and 15% are still unsure how to use it to help their business sustain and grow.

Ensure No SMB is Left Behind

As olympian Dennis Conner said, “If you can visualize it, you can actualize it.”

Reduce the jargon that can be scary and off-putting. Instead show Main Street businesses how they can use AI. Leverage the community to highlight AI success stories. For instance, demonstrate the value of AI at a local event – play new sounds that AI helped generate for a neighborhood DJ or showcase AI-prototyped designs from a favorite print shop.

Many businesses know AI can be a transformative partner providing access to sophisticated services that used to require teams of people – tools that streamline accounting, personalize marketing campaigns, and provide 24/7 customer service. But the promise of AI to help a Main Street business scale can be infinite and overwhelming for some businesses.

Create relevant and relatable use cases to bring AI to life, so the restaurateur can easily see how a cafe uses AI to manage inventory more efficiently. Or, the retailer can visit a shop using AI-enabled personalized recommendations to deepen customer engagement.

Encourage SMBs to Take a Measured Approach

While businesses with an early adopter mentality are twice as likely to report high revenue growth, an SMB doesn’t have to be an early adopter to reap the benefits of AI.  Unlike large tech firms, Main Street businesses don’t have significant resources to put towards AI and paid AI tools can get expensive. Pick and choose what’s right for your business.

Proceed with caution. While the benefits of AI are encouraging, it’s well known that AI can infringe upon privacy, security and intellectual property and can come with certain biases. Owners and operators need to understand the potential implications on their business.

AI is unbelievably intelligent, but it is also shockingly stupid, as computer scientist Yjin Choi explains. Choi shares the key to success: making AI smaller, humanistic, and sustainable. Her reasoning: with AI common sense is not so common and small silly mistakes can lead to bigger issues in AI. Case in point, at a recent conference SMB attendees were reminded of  the AI-powered chatbot that  unintentionally accepted a $1 offer for a 2024 Chevy Tahoe at a car dealership.

Like many new technologies, it’s good to test the waters before jumping right in. AI tools are only as good as their training. Business owners and operators should be prepared to help AI understand their business, brand, culture, and operations.

Make it easy. Provide the tools and use cases to get started.

AI has the potential to democratize access to information, blowfish business communication, and simplify tasks – ultimately leveling the playing field for SMBs. But it’s not always easy to navigate the voluminous tools that exist.

Of course there’s ChatGPT, which has already garnered over 180M users. But there are other AI tools that SMBs may want to consider. For a broader range of AI options visit https://www.futurepedia.io/, essentially the Yelp of AI.

Below are tools that we often see SMBs use to streamline functions:

  • Accounting: Free tools like Dext and Zoho Invoice can automate expense tracking, data entry, and invoice creation. Paid options like QuickBooks Online offer AI-powered features like fraud detection and automatic bill categorization.
  • Customer Service: Chatbots powered by AI can answer FAQs, troubleshoot basic issues, and even schedule appointments – freeing up resources to handle more complex inquiries. ManyChat offers free options, while paid services like Salesforce Einstein and Drift enable advanced chat functionalities.
  • Marketing: AI can analyze customer data to generate targeted marketing campaigns, recommend content based on user preferences, and personalize email outreach. Free tools from Mailchimp offer basic marketing automation, while paid platforms like HubSpot leverage AI for advanced segmentation and campaign optimization.

For additional SMB tools that may not be on the radar but are extremely helpful, see our curated list:

  • ai – survey design
  • Hume AI — AI toolkit to understand emotional expression
  • Julius — AI data scientist
  • art – AI art generator
  • ai – brainstorm ideas, generate text and code, coach you through difficult situations
  • Lindy — AI personal assistant
  • Zeta Labs — automate routine online tasks
  • ai — real-time language translation
  • Merlin — AI-led user interviews
  • Andiron AI — e-commerce optimization
  • Jenni — AI workspace for researchers
  • ggml — run AI models anywhere
  • Mathpix — AI-powered document automation. Convert PDFs and images into searchable, exportable and machine readable text.
  • Pika Labs — cutting-edge generative video
  • Cofactory — factory for generating companies with LLMs
  • Induced — AI-first browser RPA platform
  • Common Sense Machines — game-engine ready 3-D content
  • Guru AI — easy-to-use video analysis models
  • Echo Labs — human-level transcription
  • Reality Defender — deepfake detection
  • Lightpaper — AI assembly lines for knowledge workers
  • AutogenAI — generate bids proposals using LLMs
  • Tutor Intelligence — AI cobots
  • Akool — personalized visual marketing content
  • Coframe — automated A/B testing
  • OpusClip — AI video clipping tool
  • Kino AI — organize video assets
  • com -storytelling tools for creators
  • Castmagic – turning podcasts into blog content; note taking
  • video – note taking

In summary, while large companies are racing to embed AI into their operations in innovative ways, and tech giants face questions about regulation and concentration of power, many SMBs are still trying to figure out when and how to use AI.

AI can be transformational for SMBs, including Main Street businesses. To help those businesses that may be on the fence level the playing field using AI, our recommendation is threefold.

  1. First, talk up the AI Advantage. Teach SMBs how AI can be transformative for their business in an approachable and relevant way.
  2. Second, help SMBs understand the opportunities and pitfalls for their specific business by encouraging them to take a measured and sustained approach.
  3. Third, make it easy by providing SMBs with the tools and use cases to get started.

To learn more about this topic, contact Sam Berg at sberg@nextstreet.com