The small business guide to a successful summer

Ride the AI Wave

AI is here to stay. Over two-thirds of small businesses have tried AI, more than four-in-five small business owners say the technology has been helpful to their company and 61% of SMB owners say they use AI to automate daily tasks. Not only that, but there's even a recent bill in the U.S. Senate that would mandate AI training for small businesses.

To say that AI has a chance to transform the small business industry is an understatement. AI can be used in a multitude of ways to grow your business and we believe is a big driver of future growth for small businesses everywhere.

Automate your business finances

The best way to save time & money this summer? Connect your business accounts to an AI finance tool like Palm. Palm's secure AI works to bring you weekly and monthly insights across all of your business accounts automatically as well as give you alerts when anything looks off.

Signing up for an AI tool to manage your business finances like Palm will also automate your biggest changes in spend and cash flow month over month, which can be especially helpful when you're managing cash flow and expenses during extra busy times and seasons to see how your expenses are comparing.

Monitor your business health

By automating your business finances, you have a more accurate view of your business performance over time - expenses, cash flow, and time-over-time predictability. With this level of predictability and a view of all of your finances in one place, it gives lenders and vendors a better idea of your business' financial health, which can lead to better terms, interest rates and offers.

Keeping up to date with your business finances can pay off, literally. When you pay your bills on time and manage your finances responsibly, you're able to open the doors to additional funding and capital to help your business grow at better terms, like small business loans, for example.

Read more on why your business health matters and how Palm can help.

Augment with social media & e-comm

68% of Main Street SMBs Leveraging Social Media See Increasing Revenues and 55% of Main Street revenue since early 2023 has been from online sales. Social media isn't just a nice-to-have anymore - it can seriously help you grow your small business along with e-commerce platforms that allow your business footprint to expand beyond just brick & mortar.

Consider how your business could benefit from social media exposure - is it promoting a local event or maybe a new set of merchandise for your coffee shop? There are multiple ways to expand your business footprint and sales online this summer as customers are out and about and willing to spend their money.

Plan for the future

With the busy season comes additional revenue. Being able to see how your small business cash flow performs month-over month isn't only critical to your business' current success but also future success. Using an AI tool like Palm to manage small business finances, see how your business has performed over time as well as when large business expenses hit will give you information to plan better for the future and for the peaks and valleys of small business ownership. You'll enjoy peace of mind this summer knowing you are setting yourself up for future success.