Over the last few years, it’s become increasingly clear that technology is an integral part of our everyday work lives. But small businesses, and retail leaders especially, are cautious about making a large investment in updating their technology and tools—even though they recognize the importance.
To hear more from entrepreneurs about how they’re approaching these challenges, Slack surveyed 2,000 small business owners, including 1,000 in the tech and retail industries, to see how they feel about their performance in 2023 and what strategies they’re implementing this year.
Compared to 2023, 38% of small business owners are more concerned about their businesses’ health in 2024, and 40% believe it will “make or break” their business. While 71% still feel optimistic, many are worried about the economy, the upcoming election and declining sales, with a third of respondents expressing concerns that their business won’t survive to the end of the year. When asked how they plan to tackle 2024 in the most efficient and successful way possible, respondents saw technology as a critical part of a successful year.
Leveraging updated tech to welcome new customers and maximize efficiency
To keep their doors open, 74% of small business leaders are taking quick action to alleviate their economic concerns, with 51% expanding marketing efforts to bring in new customers and 45% setting money aside for emergency use. To increase productivity and efficiency, 43% are exploring new technologies.
If previous years are any indicator, this last tactic will prove to be a wise investment: In 2023, 41% of small business owners said that they tapped into new productivity and collaborative technology, and 70% recognized its value in communicating with customers. It’s likely this addition supported the 47% of respondents who earned new customers in 2023.
This year, 60% of small business owners are expecting to increase their budgets, with 50% allocating that money toward technology and infrastructure. In fact, 35% are excited to adopt new technology or update technology for their business in 2024—and of those, 49% are planning to introduce new productivity and collaboration tools, as well as other software tools (53%).
Using AI to increase productivity and processes without breaking the bank
The toughest challenge many small business leaders face is not having enough time, money and energy—which is why they’re looking to technology to maximize efficiency with limited resources. Of those surveyed, 24% don’t use artificial intelligence (AI) yet, but plan to incorporate it in 2024:
- 48% plan to use AI to streamline marketing and sales
- 45% will use AI for data analysis and insights
- 43% will implement AI in providing customer service and support
- 32% will tap into AI to help manage finances
- 24% will use AI for human resources and recruitment
For small businesses especially, AI offers a cost-effective, low-risk way to improve processes while also preserving the human touch for which they’re known. For example, 47% believe AI can help them tap into better data analysis and insights, which could enable them to better serve their customers. And 41% recognize AI’s value for customer service and support, which could include anything from response time to the quality of those responses. Overall, 35% believe general communication and productivity could receive a boost from AI, and 31% think it would significantly improve financial management.
But AI can be overwhelming, and has a reputation for a high barrier to entry. Nearly a third (31%) of respondents have security and privacy concerns about AI, nearly a fourth (24%) don’t know where to apply AI in their business to improve outcomes, and a fifth (20%) don’t understand how to use it.
Luckily, Slack has a secure AI solution that many businesses can tap into without much effort or overhead.
"The state of small businesses in 2024 reflects a clear desire to maximize efficiency with limited resources. Regardless of what sector the business is in, productivity and collaboration tools can be a key driver of businesses’ growth and productivity.”
Jaime DeLanghe
Vice President, Product Management, Slack
Slack AI can help teams across industries work smarter
Empowering businesses of all sizes to maximize efficiency, fine-tune communication and accelerate growth, Slack AI offers a seamless entry point into artificial intelligence, with no training required. Easy to use and right where everyone’s already working, it sets itself apart by harnessing the power of the history you build with your colleagues over time on the platform.
With search answers, you can ask a conversational question and receive instant answers. For example, if you’re just joining a project, you can use it to identify key details and stakeholders; it culls both your company’s public communications and your own personal conversations to deliver the most informative answers. Let’s say you have a new hire: They can easily use it to define unfamiliar acronyms and get up to speed on company policies. Or perhaps there’s an engineering incident and no one knows the best point person. Simply use search answers to find internal subject-matter experts who can help resolve the issue as swiftly as possible.
Channel recaps generate key highlights with a click and cut straight to what’s relevant. You can keep pace with unread messages and summarize a week you were out of the office without digging through busy channels. Finally, thread summaries will catch you up on long conversations in an instant, with clearly noted sources so that you can dig deeper on anything you deem relevant.
These new native features prioritize providing exactly what you need to know when you need to know it. Plus, they’re built on Slack’s secure, trusted infrastructure so that you remain in full control of your data.
Technology, and especially AI, can be costly and intimidating—but it doesn’t have to be. By folding Slack AI into your plans for 2024, you can cut through the noise and amplify what’s important, empowering your teams to exponentially speed up work and drive major productivity gains.
About Slack:
Slack is the productivity platform that empowers everyone with no-code automation and AI, makes search and knowledge sharing seamless, and keeps teams connected and engaged. Teams that use Slack are 49% more productive and more than 90% of teams feel more connected using Slack.
Research methodology:
This random double-opt-in survey of 2,000 U.S. small business owners (businesses with 2,000 or fewer employees) — including 1,000 tech and retail business owners — was commissioned by Slack between Dec. 22, 2023 and Jan. 8, 2024. It was conducted by market research company OnePoll, whose team members are members of the Market Research Society and have corporate membership to the American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) and the European Society for Opinion and Marketing Research (ESOMAR).
