84% say AI's main benefit is efficiency

84% of small businesses using AI say its main benefit is efficiency, and efficiency on its own won't grow your business.

That figure comes from a Goldman Sachs survey of 1,256 US small business owners, run earlier this year. Three in four were already using AI, and 93% of those said it was helping.

But time saved is only worth something if you know what you're spending it on. Ask most owners what they want from AI and they'll say growth. Ask what a good year looks like, and plenty of them say they want their Fridays back.

Both are fine goals. They put AI in different parts of the business, so you need to pick one before you pick a tool.

If you want more customers, point AI at sales and marketing. Use it to sharpen your offer, test your messaging and fix the leaks in your funnel.

If you want fewer hours, point it at the inside of the business, like slow reporting and the admin nobody on your team wants to do.

Get this the wrong way round and it costs you. Buy growth tools when what you really want is your evenings back, and you end up busier than before. Buy time-saving tools when you need growth, and you get a tidier business with higher costs and the same money coming in.

An extra €2,000 a month in new work and four hours back every Friday are both good targets. They lead to completely different AI projects, with different tools and different people involved.

Before you sign up for another AI platform, write down which one you want, more revenue or fewer hours, and put a number on it.