The Most Effective Ways To Use AI If You’re a Business Owner

AI’s practical applications for business owners: Artificial intelligence offers tangible benefits for entrepreneurs and side business operators, providing tools to streamline common tasks and enhance productivity.

• The ubiquity of AI in media and daily life has led to both sci-fi depictions and research-heavy discussions, often obscuring its practical applications for business owners.
• AI tools can be leveraged to optimize various aspects of business operations, from time management to hiring processes.

Calendar optimization with AI: Motion, an AI-powered tool, helps business owners manage their schedules more effectively by prioritizing tasks and blocking out time efficiently.

• Motion optimizes calendars by scheduling tasks and prioritizing them based on user inputs.
• The tool blocks calendar time in increments of 15, 30, 45, and 60 minutes, aligning with task durations and completion estimates.

AI-assisted staff training: Chatbase offers a solution for businesses struggling to find time for staff training by creating an AI-powered chatbot based on internal protocols and processes.

• The chatbot can answer common questions about company policies, such as PTO, safety measures, and specific job-related tasks.
• This tool reduces the need for constant email communication between staff and management for routine inquiries.

Efficient research with AI summarization: Shortform, a free Chrome extension, uses AI to summarize PDFs and web articles quickly, helping business owners stay informed without spending excessive time reading.

• The tool provides detailed synopses of articles, allowing users to decide whether further reading is necessary.
• This can be particularly useful for staying up-to-date in fast-paced industries where time is at a premium.

AI-powered hiring and onboarding: Gohire streamlines the talent acquisition process by assisting with research, discovery, and hiring of candidates, as well as creating onboarding workflows.

• The tool aims to save time and bandwidth for business owners during the often time-consuming hiring process.
• By automating parts of the recruitment and onboarding process, Gohire allows entrepreneurs to focus on core business activities.

Automated email responses with AI: Magical, another Chrome extension, helps business owners create personalized, templated email responses for various recipients, including prospects, interns, staff, and solicitors.

• The tool automatically inputs recipient names and includes the sender’s signature, streamlining repetitive email tasks.
• This can significantly reduce the time spent on routine communication, allowing for more focus on high-priority tasks.

Best practices for adopting AI tools: To effectively integrate AI into business operations, entrepreneurs should follow a structured approach to tool selection and implementation.

• Research and select a few AI tools with user-friendly interfaces that align with specific business needs.
• Take advantage of free trials, which typically last 7 to 14 days, to test the tools’ functionality and fit.
• Expect an initial learning curve but commit to experimenting with the tools over several days to become proficient.

Overcoming AI adoption challenges: The main hurdle in implementing AI tools is often the initial resistance to change and the effort required to start using new technologies.

• Approximately 70% of the challenge in adopting AI tools is overcoming personal inertia and taking the first steps to integrate them into daily workflows.
• Persistence and a willingness to experiment are key to successfully incorporating AI tools into business operations.

Broader implications and future outlook: As AI tools become more prevalent and sophisticated, their potential to transform small business operations grows, potentially leveling the playing field with larger competitors.

• The increasing accessibility of AI tools for various business functions suggests a future where AI becomes an integral part of entrepreneurship and small business management.
• As business owners become more comfortable with AI, we may see a shift in how small enterprises operate, potentially leading to increased efficiency and innovation across various industries.