In this ‘how to’ guide, Ambition A.M. takes a look at how you can use AI to your advantage as a small business owner, whether it be to scale your start-up or simply re-organise your day-to-day activities.
How often are you using AI in your everyday business operations? Odds are, it’s more often than you think.
Research by small business support platform Enterprise Nation has shown that more than half of Britain’s small and medium-sized firms have started to use AI to grow their business, and with the current £16.8bn UK AI expecting to grow to £801.6bn by 2035, this trend can only be expected to continue.
However, reports have also shown that there has been a “lack of confidence” among some founders and business leaders learning how to incorporate certain AI tools into their everyday operations.
This Ambition A.M. guide looks at how you can use AI tools to boost your productivity and successfully scale your start-up’s potential.
Will AI be ‘fuelling the future’ of entrepreneurship?
Software architect and founder of UK tech firm Talk Think Do, Matt Hammond, tells Ambition A.M. that implementing – and innovating – AI into your business operations will be what helps you grow at a “rapid pace”.
“In our line of work, we have witnessed firsthand the transformative power that AI brings to the table for businesses in many sectors,” Hammond said.
While many companies are interested in exploring how generative AI can improve their operations, entrepreneurs are now seeing the technology as a basis for completely new businesses.
Matt Hammond
Generative AI, Hammond said, is a growing trend in the workplace, especially when it comes to “revolutionising” things like customer service and conversations.
“Whether it’s empowering startups to scale rapidly, optimising business operations, or aiding education, AI holds the key to unlocking a future defined by innovation and progress,” Hammond added.
How to use free online tools to scale your start-up
“AI enables founders to stay focused on the big picture and apply their time in the places that will deliver exponential returns back to the business,” VP for data science at Oracle, Jenny Griffiths MBE, tells Ambition A.M.
Griffiths, who admits that of course any founder knows their business best, said AI tools can be used as a helping hand – as long as you know where, and how, to use them accordingly.
She suggests finding the answers to these three questions to start:
What problem are you trying to solve?
What are your top priorities?
What are the costs?
“It is only natural for founders with a strong emotional connection to their business to get sucked into actioning every task and deliverable,” Griffiths said.
“However, this isn’t a sustainable approach to running a company and can quickly lead to burnout.”
What’s most interesting to note is that you might even be using AI already, without even realising — it doesn’t have to be about employing robots.
Whether it be trying out the new ChatGPT update or using Grammarly to edit your email copy, you could already be half way there.
In the meantime, if you’re looking to start, here are five free AI tools often used for time management and productivity hacks: