As artificial intelligence (AI) gains traction across all facets of our daily lives, it’s creating significant opportunities for small business owners.
Large language models (LLMs), including OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini, and Meta’s Llama, offer IT capabilities like we’ve never seen before. If you’re thinking of starting a small business, AI can serve as a valuable resource.
Here are seven ways generative AI and other forms of AI can be used to help launch your business.
Before you begin: Understand AI risks and limitations
AI is a useful assistant for many basic business tasks. However, it also introduces risks. Generative AI can generate inaccurate and sometimes misleading information (known as hallucinations). Gen AI platforms also lack transparency, making it difficult to understand how they make decisions.
Always treat any AI outputs with a critical eye. If you’re uncertain about any advice or guidance that AI gives you, refer to other sources or consult a professional subject matter expert. Trust, but verify.
Additionally, be mindful of AI advancements and concerns surrounding data privacy, intellectual property infringement, and transparency.
While AI is a powerful tool that drives efficiency and productivity, be aware of its limitations and always practice human oversight.
Brainstorm business ideas
AI is a great forum for brainstorming new business ideas. Use basic prompts, such as: “What type of business can I start with low startup costs?” or “What businesses are recession-proof?”
Experiment with your prompts to determine which wording and length yield the best answers. For instance, ask the same question several times, tweaking it slightly to refine the answers. Instead of asking, “What business can I start with low startup costs?” try phrasing it as, “What business can I start with low startup costs, given my XYZ skill set or experience in ABC?”
Once you have a set of interesting business ideas, conduct a SWOT analysis (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats) to evaluate each idea and narrow down your options.
Perform market research
Market research helps determine the market need for your business idea, as well as the price point that consumers are willing to pay. Generative AI can provide insights into your potential customers' preferences and motivations, so you can better target your business efforts.
Before you begin your query, gather demographic information about your target market, including age, income, interests, education, and other relevant factors. Then prompt the AI tools to answer a series of questions based on these demographics:
- Is there an interest in XYZ product or service?
- How many individuals would be interested in XYZ products/services?
- What are the income levels and employment statistics in my target market of <LOCATION>?
- How many comparable options exist for consumers in this market?
- What are potential customers willing to spend on these alternatives?
Tailor your questions to your unique offering and market and ask them in a sequential manner. This will help you to create a complete picture of your market. Carefully review the tool’s responses. The information provided may not be up-to-date or accurate, but it can serve as a useful starting point for deeper research.
Write a business plan
A business plan is a crucial tool for guiding your business launch and its ongoing operations. It’s also required by investors and lenders before you can access capital.
Writing a business plan can be challenging, but AI can help. Using your market insights and business ideas, use ChatGPT or other tools to assist with writing a basic outline from which you can draft your final plan.
Try not to rely only on AI for your entire business plan, and carefully review it to ensure your mission, financial forecasts, and other critical elements are accurate.
Investigate business requirements
Starting a business means ensuring compliance with a range of legal requirements. These vary by location and the nature of your business. If you form an LLC or corporation, there are additional compliance requirements that must be met.
Generative AI chatbots can provide general information and starting points for compliance. However, AI should not be considered a substitute for professional legal advice. Legal requirements – including taxation laws and formation requirements – are constantly evolving, and the cost of noncompliance can be severe, including fines, penalties, or even business closure.
Improve time management
Being a small business owner involves wearing many hats, so effective time management is essential.
AI productivity tools can help you manage daily tasks, such as scheduling, planning, travel, and business administration. For example, you can share your to-do list with ChatGPT and ask it to prioritize tasks based on deadlines, importance, and the time required to complete them.
You can also use AI to manage your calendar schedule. Many AI tools integrate with Outlook and Google and offer features such as scheduling tasks according to availability, automated rescheduling, and more.
Create branding and marketing content
Generative AI can help you create a range of content, including blogs, emails, social media captions, images, and videos. It can also take content you’ve already created and repurpose it for product descriptions on e-commerce sites, social media posts to promote products, and more.
Review any outputs for potential intellectual property violations and run the content through AI detectors to ensure the work is original. You will also need to tailor any content to reflect your brand’s tone and voice.
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