New Report Highlights a Cautious Approach toward Use of AI for Small Businesses
Small businesses, compared to larger enterprises, are slowly marching forward in their AI adoption. Thryv conducted a survey of 500+ small business owners in April of 2024 to find out how small businesses prepare to use AI. According to the latest report on AI’s emergence as a dominant technology for business owners, small business adoption of AI will soon see a big rise. The report states that while only 39 percent of small businesses are currently using AI, that percentage of AI users is expected to jump to 51 percent by the end of 2025.
There is good reason for the anticipated uptick. In quantifying the benefits of AI tools, more than half of responding AI users expect to save between $500-$2,000, and up to 20 hours, monthly.
Recommended AI Trends: Microsoft-LinkedIn Report: Employees Topple Age-old Workplace Barriers by Embracing BYOAI Devices
The Benefits of AI for Small Businesses
Big or small, businesses can reap significant benefits from AI adoption. Early adopters, as reported by different market research firms, are better at utilizing AI and mitigating the challenges that arise from the technology-infrastructure misconfiguration. 15% of respondents expect more widespread applications of AI would most favorably impact their business.
Overall, the report found small businesses owners appreciate how AI can impact how they operate:
- 73 percent said it will offload repetitive tasks
- 67 percent said it will give them personal time back
- 58 percent said it will help with resource constraints
“Small business owners literally can’t do it all, so while they can be more cautious when it comes to adopting new technologies, Thryv’s survey indicates a lot of them expect to benefit from the promise of AI,” said Grant Freeman, president of Thryv.
Grant added, “For many, it’s already delivering significant time savings, particularly when it comes to the content creation capabilities of generative AI.”
AI vs. Employees
Business owners fear lack of trust in AI applications would affect their reputation and ability to sustain market demands. The report found two main reasons why owners reject the use of AI in their business. Either they don’t need AI (46%), or they don’t trust AI (45%). 24% of respondents said they are “too small” to benefit from AI adoption; 33% felt they are yet to figure out the areas where they can fit in AI. Surprisingly, 8% of business owners just felt they don’t have a starting point yet with AI. This, despite having access to tons of open source and free-to-use AI applications and solutions.
May be that’s why employees are taking an ownership posture with AI applications, devoting their own efforts and resources to infuse Bring Your Own AI Devices (BYOAI devices) in their current roles.
Small businesses employ nearly half of all U.S. employees according to the SBA’s Office of Advocacy. Thryv’s survey indicates that AI will not immediately upend this dynamic. Only a third of respondents think AI will make their business less reliant on employees.
When asked if they needed to add a new resource to their business, and either a person or AI software could perform the task equally well, small business owners are evenly divided: 36 percent would prefer to purchase AI software; 34 percent would prefer to hire a new employee; and 30 percent would prefer whichever option is the least expensive.
Impact of Age and Size
Age matters when it comes to AI adoption. Less than a third of small business owners aged 60+ are using AI; and almost half in this age group do not plan to use AI for their business. Forty-three percent of those small business owners using AI are in the 21-49 age range.
Usage of AI increases as the size of the business increases.
- 47 percent of businesses with 10+ employees use AI
- 40 percent of businesses with 5-9 employees use AI
- 27 percent of businesses with 1-4 employees use AI
AI Pros and Cons
While there is clearly momentum for AI adoption, almost a third of respondents believe using it could have unintended consequences. For Jermaine Stanley, founder of Stanley Consulting Group, that translates into the potential for unconscious bias. “AI has been a game changer for content creation. I no longer battle writer’s block and the time I gain back is considerable. But, as a DEI consultant, I believe we need to be diligent about how we leverage data, so we don’t unwittingly exclude any populations. DEI is designed to benefit all, rather than one or two demographics.”
A Wait and See Approach with AI for Small Businesses
Of those SMBs not currently planning to use AI in the future, more than half want to see how it impacts other small businesses before they adopt it. In terms of overall small business objections, a third say “it’s too new,” and “I don’t know what I would use it for.” A quarter say they “don’t trust AI.”
“For many AI holdouts, trust and purpose are at issue,” said Freeman. “We’re finding, however, a small business platform like Thryv’s, that embeds AI features right into their workflow, makes it easier for small businesses to make that digital transition. It lightens the lift, particularly for those businesses without a staff. AI’s impact is transformative and we want to make sure that, no matter how small the business, they can confidently and easily embrace it.”
AI Applications on the Thryv Small Business Platform
Small businesses can leverage Thryv’s platform to experience AI-driven benefits, including enhancements to the Social Media Management tool that allow them to harness the generative power of AI for social media caption creation and Advertising Recommendations for streamlined digital advertising.
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