With the UK economy suffering in the wake of Brexit, Polish entrepreneurs can overcome common challenges by incorporating machine learning into their businesses.
In 2017, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) around the world faced challenges financing and growing their businesses, reported business solutions professionals, Sage. From cash flow issues as a result of debt collection, to implementing best practices for launching marketing campaigns, these issues have also proven difficult for entrepreneurs in the UK.
With Brexit impacting economic confidence in the UK, it is more important than ever for Polish business owners to strengthen their market position. An estimated 21,000 Poles have set up 22,000 enterprises in the UK, so ensuring their continued growth and competition necessitates seeking innovative ways of establishing themselves as industry leaders.
Fortunately, this year has also seen a rapid rise in the development, availability and affordability of machine learning applications – AI-powered software that are capable of performing predictable, often repetitive, tasks much faster than a human being, and of learning your business’ preferences and patterns.
For example, while the advent of social media and messaging applications has permitted unprecedented access to customers, customers can also contact businesses at all hours from all around the world – and they expect a fast response! While larger companies can afford around-the-clock customer service teams, SMEs can respond by using chatbots – AI text applications which respond like a human being to customers’ requests, only escalating matters to you that they cannot resolve alone.
In fact, AI is now being used to resolve a huge number of business problems, from automatically generating and chasing invoices speed up payments, to scanning résumés for key skills to help you hire new personnel faster than ever.
Similarly, technology is also helping SMEs to grow their customer base. One of the most common issues for SMEs in 2017 was knowing how to effectively market their business to premium customers. Of course, search engine ranking criteria is always changing and often too complex even for professional developers to get right; but with smart plug-ins for your website, software can help owners understand how to make their website more visible online, allowing them to win more customers in the process.
Finally, once SMEs have started to grow their customer base, they need to market to them successfully. AI now runs behind numerous social media sites and email marketing software, helping businesses to quickly and accurately understand their key demographics, what content users are engaging with, and to produce or suggest material likely to convert potential clients into purchasing customers.
So, what should entrepreneurs do with the newfound time this technology affords? Use it to stay informed of the latest industry trends, tips and technologies. Business is always changing, and even more so in the UK while Brexit negotiations are ongoing. By assigning employees with certain areas in which to stay informed, or hiring virtual assistants to compile frequent reports, Polish businesses can ensure they remain prepared for future challenges.
