My career has taken me around the globe, so I've had the opportunity to work with and meet many different small-business owners. With every encounter, I've recognized personality patterns that transcend culture or background. Whether they're running a media company in New York, a construction company in Seattle or manufacturing water bottles in Malaysia, entrepreneurs share many common traits.
Entrepreneurs are wonderfully, contagiously optimistic. They're ambitious, and bold in their thinking. Entrepreneurs the world over give back to their communities; I'm often struck by how business owners describe their success not in revenue or profit, but by the number of jobs they have created. Small-business owners know that the choices they make are intrinsically tied to who will be impacted. There's no work-life balance for most entrepreneurs: the business is the mission, and often family-run. It's a big responsibility. It's also a lot of pressure.
When I visited a Kenyan candy manufacturing company, they were debating leaning heavily into chocolate, which offered a lot to consider — it meant switching manufacturing processes, finding new suppliers for raw materials and updating packaging and storage for a confection that melts quickly. These are the kinds of overhaul decisions small businesses face, and the feasibility very often comes down to finances.
Buyers sometimes pay slowly. Suppliers want to get paid quickly. The uncertainties tend to accumulate, and entrepreneurs are acutely aware of the relationship between business failures and empty coffers. Cash flow is king, especially when it comes to big investment decisions. Flexible access to credit becomes a major competitive advantage, especially when making big bets for the future.
It's a lot to weigh, and what if businesses don't make the right call? Making decisions confidently is critical. The most recent
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When the report's findings first came back, I was initially surprised to see the level of excitement small businesses have for artificial intelligence capabilities and the difference they think AI can make. Some see it as a potential timesaver (39%). Others expect it to provide more efficient customer service for their business (20%). The more responses I read, the more clearly the entrepreneurial spirit shone through. These were ambitious optimists, looking at a new, accessible tool with the potential to revolutionize some of their core processes. They're not intimidated, they're excited.
Specially designed tools can reduce uncertainty and build confidence around small-business decisions. Just as the pandemic pushed lots of small businesses to go digital through new capabilities, tools and platforms, many small businesses see AI in the same light: an opportunity to reduce uncertainty, improve the quality of business decisions and increase efficiency. They're asking, how can I use it for advertising? Can I get smarter about the way I'm attracting customers online? Can I use it to reduce manual processes? Boost efficiency? Build more accurate forecasts? Anticipate the next big trend? Entrepreneurs see opportunity everywhere.
Survey respondents also expressed optimism about the egalitarian way ChatGPT and other AI tools have launched: open-source, widely available, giving everyone from the biggest transnationals to the smallest local shops access to the same powerful tool at the same time. The entrepreneurs we surveyed are excited about the accessibility of AI tools.
Small businesses are a major engine of growth in the U.S. and every other economy, representing about half of jobs and GDP. It's the agility and pace, the energy of entrepreneurs, that makes that economic ecosystem so powerful. AI, like any new tool, will be harnessed to make that engine even stronger — from making more confident decisions about hiring to expansion, marketing efficiencies and more.
There's no easy time to be an entrepreneur. The hours are long, the stakes are high and the responsibility sometimes weighs heavily. That's why small-business owners, especially those going it alone with a handful of employees, need top-tier support from financial services companies, creditors and other empowering technologies. We all win when small businesses have the cashflow confidence to make growth decisions that invest in our communities for years to come.
