5 Practical Ways Small Businesses Can Use AI Right Now
The term AI is becoming synonymous with leveling the playing field for small businesses. The old limits of small teams and thin resources no longer block access to advanced tools that connect and streamline operations. In this article, we explore five ways small businesses can use AI to make meaningful progress. We also highlight real tools you can try today, including several we use in our own business.
1. Automation
If you ever repeat the same task more than once a day and wish you could wave a magic wand, you are not alone. Repetition drains time and money, and it often adds frustration. Removing even one or two of those tasks can boost morale and free your team to focus on the work that actually moves your goals forward.
Here are a few AI and automation tools that are affordable and easy to implement:
-Generative AI platforms
Tools like ChatGPT, Claude, Grok, CoPilot, and Gemini can help you plan, organize, and automate workflows.
How it helps TechSeven: We used CoPilot Studios to create an internal agent called “HR Policy Advisor.” Our team can ask it questions about PTO, holidays, employee conduct, and other topics covered in our handbook and other HR documents.
–Zapier
Zapier is not purely an AI platform, but it uses AI to enhance its features. It is helpful for small businesses that rely on multiple tools and want to create automated workflows between them.
–QuickBooks Online
QuickBooks continues to add AI features that simplify financial workflows and daily operations.
2. Simplified Operations
Small businesses often struggle with project management, resource coordination, and general organization. AI now gives teams with limited technical experience the ability to use tools that streamline these daily operational challenges.
Here are three worth exploring:
–ClickUp
A flexible all-in-one platform with AI features that let you ask natural questions such as “What tasks are behind schedule.” It can summarize documents, organize information, and manage projects in one place.
–Motion
A helpful tool for teams dealing with calendar chaos. It can optimize schedules, prioritize tasks, and adjust deadlines automatically.
–Asana
A strong option for small businesses that want AI-powered task assignments, workflow automation, and project insights.
When choosing tools, look for options that provide AI-driven insights rather than only text generation, integrate well with your current systems, and scale with your business as you grow.
3. Personalized Customer Service
AI can help small businesses respond to clients faster and maintain consistent communication.
A few options to consider:
–HubSpot
A full-service CRM with tools for chat, automated emails, ticketing, and customer communication.
How it helps TechSeven: When someone fills out a form on our website, HubSpot sends a response based on the type of inquiry and alerts the correct department so the right person can follow up quickly.
–Weave
A communication platform that uses AI to enhance texting, reminders, review requests, customer follow-ups, and general outreach.
–Intercom
A strong choice for AI chatbots that can handle real customer questions across multiple channels.
4. Enhanced Marketing
AI tools save time and money by simplifying content creation. Whether you need graphics, videos, captions, or insight on what performs best, there are tools built for small teams.
A few examples:
–Gamma
Creates presentations, reports, and marketing decks from prompts or documents you provide.
–Canva
The Magic Studio feature blends design, copy suggestions, and visual generation in one platform.
How it Helps TechSeven: Here is an example of how we used Magic Studio to 1. Remove the background 2. extended a picture that needed a wider layout. The additional area is AI generated.
–HubSpot
Provides AI features for content creation, email writing, social scheduling, and other marketing tasks. It also reviews past campaign performance to suggest what type of content is likely to engage your audience. Its automation tools help small teams stay consistent by handling reminders, follow-ups, and routine marketing workflows in the background.
–Synthesia
Ideal for teams that want video but prefer not to be on camera. It turns your script into a video using digital presenters and voiceovers.
How it Helps TechSeven: We are producing more personalized videos internally, but we still use Zola, a Synthesia-created avatar, for certain messages. She presents our scripts in a consistent format.
Meet TechSeven’s AI Avatar Zola
Smarter Decisions
Most businesses have mountains of data scattered across Google Workspace or OneDrive. The challenge is turning that data into insight. AI tools can help uncover trends, opportunities, and operational gaps.
Here are a few tools that support better decision-making:
–Zoho Analytics
Includes dashboards, reports, and AI-driven analytical insights.
–Microsoft Power BI
Connects multiple data sources, builds dashboards, answers natural language questions, and helps visualize trends.
–Tableau
A powerful analytics platform that uses AI for strong visualizations, deeper data exploration, and blended data sources.
This list is not exhaustive. New tools and features appear every day, and some may fit your workflows better than the examples shown here. Do not get stuck on the tools themselves. The real value comes from understanding what is possible and choosing solutions that enhance how your business works today and how it will grow tomorrow.
