In the rapidly evolving digital age, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is no longer just for tech giants and multinationals with big budgets.
From streamlining workflows to informing key business decisions with deep insights, AI has leveled the playing field for small businesses. It gives them timely business insights, optimised operations, reduced costs, and increased sales, giving the multinationals a run for their money.
Globally, India leads in AI adoption at 92 percent, with gross concerns about job loss. Although there is still no comprehensive data on the adoption rate in Uganda, debates continue over issues like data security and user privacy, with the country yet to come up with an AI policy.
AI is expected to lead to a rise of $15.7 trillion to the global economy, and contribute $1.2 trillion to Africa’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2030, a rise of 5.6 percent.
Despite this, AI adoption is evident across various sectors, especially with the rise of tech-based business models such as SafeBoda, Jumia, and Rocket Health. Even in small details, it is common to find merchandise dealers with fully set-up WhatsApp business accounts, including a catalog, business hours, and pinned location. Many of these dealers also use chatbots and quick replies to assist customers. This is AI in motion, slowly creeping into our midst.
Customer service
Although this is where the most obvious threats to job loss lie, AI has been widely used in customer service. But for small businesses, here is the honey pot.
Today, companies can handle customer inquiries, address complaints, make recommendations, and issue orders through chatbots, all personalised to suit the multitude of customer needs, quickly and without incurring human labour costs, 24/7.
Zendesk CX Trends Report 2024 revealed that 51 percent of customers prefer interacting with AI over humans for immediate service, and 47 percent feel AI agents can be empathetic when addressing concerns.
John Birungi, a digital marketing professional, notes that there are software tools available to qualify leads, answer frequently asked questions, and direct customers to relevant resources.
‘This would cause increased customer satisfaction, higher engagement rates, improved conversion rates, and stronger customer loyalty,’ he adds.
Sales optimisation
According to Birungi, AI helps sales teams better plan their campaigns by anticipating client needs.
‘Companies get the best of their campaign budgets while fulfilling client needs ably,’ he says. Sharon Piloya, founder of Loyan Logistics, speaks highly about using AI in her sales campaigns.
‘With the right targeting of my sales campaigns from the analytics, I have singlehandedly attracted clients and solved their needs without a heavy budget,’ she says. Piloya notes that she had to spend heavily on campaigns, but the reward pays off in the end.
Operations efficiency
Every business strives to operate efficiently, reduce costs, increase sales, and serve customers diligently, earning their loyalty. With AI, SMEs can automate repetitive, less important tasks to give time for employees to focus on strategic, key tasks that require human creativity.
SMEs encourage innovation in how their employees solve operational bottlenecks. Global data reveals that over 80 percent of enterprises are prioritising AI for higher revenue and operational efficiency, which could heighten their productivity by 40 percent.
Financial management
Gone are the days of bulky and heavy cash books. With AI, small businesses have the platform to handle complex financial analysis and decision-making procedures that used to be a privilege only for multinationals and corporations. For Piloya, she has been able to keep her sales and inventory records and used them to monitor trends, predict and make rational financial decisions on sales, marketing, and inventory management.
Human resources
Today, human resource professionals have heavily turned to AI for certain repetitive tasks in talent acquisition, especially in sorting Curriculum Vitae for shortlisting. Currently, there are AI tools that assist in human resource management.
A Career Builder Survey revealed that 93 percent of employers reported significant time savings and improved efficiency, while 67 percent indicated cost and resource savings.
Data analysis and insights
AI can analyse and process massive datasets at a significantly higher rate and with greater precision than humans, uncovering previously unseen patterns and providing marketers with valuable insights to inform their campaigns.
According to Birungi, tools like Meta for Business and Google Analytics include AI-powered insights and anomaly detection that can help you spot big changes in your website’s performance.
‘Such AI-enabled platforms help in improving marketing strategy, decision-making, providing more in-depth knowledge of consumer behaviour, earlier detection of market trends, and more proactive resolution of problems,’ he adds.
With a simple ‘bakeries near me’ search, customers can find a list of available bakeries within the specific locality. A well-optimised Google business profile and a website, or both, can help small businesses gain a competitive advantage in attracting customers from their local communities.