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Before they hire, 86 % of solopreneurs try AI first, FreshBooks survey finds
Artificial intelligence is changing one of the most consequential decisions a small business owner makes: when to pay another person for help.
According to new research from FreshBooks, 86 % of solopreneurs and microbusiness owners say that when they encounter a business task they cannot complete entirely on their own, they try using AI before hiring someone to do it.
The finding suggests that for America’ s smallest businesses, AI is evolving beyond a productivity tool into a new source of business capacity, allowing one person or a very small team to take on work, solve problems and serve clients in ways that once may have required additional headcount or outside help.
That shift is a central finding of FreshBooks’ new report, The Era of the Solopreneur, based on a Wakefield Research survey of 500 solopreneurs and microbusiness owners.
Asked to choose which capability would matter more to their future business success, 64 % selected the ability to appear bigger or more capable than their actual size, compared with 36 % who chose getting more done without adding time, employees or costs.
“ AI is starting to change the math of running a very small business,” said Shaheen Javadizadeh, CEO at FreshBooks.“ For a solopreneur, the question isn’ t only,‘ Can this tool save me an hour?’ Increasingly, it’ s,‘ Can this help me take on a client, solve a problem or deliver a level of service that previously would have required another person?’ That’ s a fundamentally different kind of leverage.”
Mastercard’ s Dreamonomics report finds small business owners are redefining growth for a more demanding economy
Small businesses are looking ahead with ambition, but they are also preparing for the pressure that comes when opportunity arrives. Mastercard has introduced Dreamonomics, a new global view of the forces reshaping small- and mediumsized enterprises’( SMEs) perceptions and approach to growth. The research shows that SMEs are redefining growth as controlled momentum: 68 % prioritise stability and predictability over fast growth, 54 % actively avoid unnecessary financial risk and 61 % are focused on deepening customer relationships rather than reaching as many customers as possible.
Headline findings from the new Dreamonomics report:
• Stability is overtaking speed: 68 % of SMEs now prioritise stability and predictability over fast growth, while 54 % say they actively avoid unnecessary financial risk.
• Customer depth is beating customer reach: 61 % of SMEs would rather build deep customer relationships than reach as many customers as possible.
• Digital ambition is outpacing digital simplicity: SMEs already use five digital business tools on average, 89 % want to adopt more and 78 % say integrated tools are critical – making simplification a growth issue, not just an operational one.
• Cybersecurity is becoming a growth enabler: 71 % of SMEs prioritise protection from cyberthreats, yet only 37 % use cybersecurity tools today; 70 % are excited about AI’ s potential, especially in fraud and security protection( 41 %). �
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