Micro Businesses Using AI to Compete with Larger Firms

Nearly half of micro businesses are using generative AI to compete with larger brands. This data comes from a survey of over 3,000 business owners with ten or fewer employees performed by GoDaddy’s Venture Forward.

In the survey, 44 percent of respondents said they agree that AI will help with their business growth over the next year. In fact, an even larger number, 50 percent, said they’ve at least tried using AI over the past few months. However, about 40 percent said they don’t know of any other businesses that are using the technology. So those who are using it may be gaining an edge over competitors – or some businesses may simply not want to reveal how they’re making use of this emerging technology just yet.

So, how exactly are micro businesses leveraging generative AI for business growth? According to the Venture Forward survey, the top use cases include content production, such as writing and design, summarizing data, marketing strategy, and creating business insights.

GoDaddy Venture Forward’s Senior Director Alexandra Rosen recently said in an interview with FOX Business, “Their greatest challenge when they start is marketing. They’re using it for the things they previously hired people for.”

However, Rosen cautioned people from fearing that AI is negatively impacting the job market. In fact, it seems as though the technology is often freeing up small businesses to simply focus on more important tasks instead of repetitive activities, allowing them to hire for more specialized work instead. So, while it’s possible that certain roles may shift due to AI, the potential to help the smallest businesses could ultimately lead to sustained or even larger numbers of job openings going forward.

The AI landscape is still in its early stages, and likely to change significantly in the coming years. But the potential to use this technology to cut down on certain repetitive tasks can help businesses of all sizes. And the immediate impact may be most beneficial for those businesses that don’t have the resources to build large teams right away.

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