By Vicky Sidler | Published 17 June 2025 at 12:00 GMT

A fresh PayPal-backed survey of nearly 1,000 small businesses says 82% now view AI as “essential” to stay competitive, and one in four already use it every day.

Now, before you picture humanoid robots brewing your morning coffee, remember: most owners still can’t find last year’s receipts in their email. That’s where the real opportunity lies.

From “If” to “When”:

Reimagine Main Street divided small businesses into three familiar archetypes:

• Active Users (25%): These are the overachievers who’ve already automated their email campaigns, set up AI-powered customer service bots, and started trusting software with their financial forecasts. Think of them as the kids who did the homework before class even started.

• Explorers (51%): They’re curious, maybe even enthusiastic, but mostly exhausted. They’ve bookmarked five AI tools they’ll test “when things quiet down,” which is code for never. They’re stuck between interest and overwhelm, balancing fear of missing out with fear of messing up.

• Non-Users (24%): They still write invoices by hand and think ChatGPT is a rap group. But the survey suggests their numbers are shrinking, fast.

The upshot? The AI question is no longer “Should we?” It’s “How soon can we do this without breaking something?”

What Active Users Want Next:

The quarter who dove in aren’t satisfied with just saving time—they’re aiming for a competitive edge. Here’s what they’re hungry for:

• 77% want AI to fully manage marketing and customer engagement, which is polite code for “I never want to write a newsletter again.”

• 53% are desperate to automate cash-flow forecasting, because spreadsheets are a punishment from the past.

• 45% want predictive revenue tools that help plan staffing, inventory, and marketing—basically, a crystal ball that actually works.

• 40% crave real-time insight into customer buying patterns to tweak pricing and promotions on the fly.

If you’re still cobbling together sales reports manually, the clock’s ticking.

Why Explorers Are Stuck:

The so-called “Explorers” aren’t skeptical—they’re just swamped. Here’s what’s clogging the gears:

• 38% worry AI will expose their customer data faster than their nephew’s hacked Roblox account.

• 37% say they don’t have the time, money, or staff to even test AI tools, let alone integrate them.

• 34% don’t see the ROI yet, which is a polite way of saying, “We’re not sure it’s worth the headache.”

And yet, most would jump in tomorrow if someone handed them three things: clear proof it works, software that doesn’t require a PhD to operate, and training that doesn’t feel like detention.

Three Moves to Turn Curiosity into Competitive Edge:

I’m a Duct Tape Marketing Strategist and StoryBrand Certified Guide, so I see AI as a force-multiplier—once your fundamentals are sorted. Here’s how to join the Active camp without drowning in dashboards.

1. Pick One Pain Point to Automate:

Instead of “AI for everything,” choose a single task that eats your week—drafting social captions, triaging support emails, or predicting next month’s inventory. Automate it, measure time saved, and only then expand.

2. Build Guardrails Before Gadgets:

Explorers fear data leaks for a reason. Set policies: Who uploads what? Where does data live? If ChatGPT can read your customer list, you’ve skipped step one.

3. Keep the Message Crystal Clear:

Faster tools won’t fix fuzzy messaging. Make sure your website, emails, and offers pass the five-second test: Who’s it for? What problem? Why you? Nail that, and AI becomes the turbo-button—not the steering wheel.

Want a Clarity Boost Before You Plug in AI?

Download my 5-Minute Marketing Fix—a one-page worksheet that sharpens your message so every tool (human or machine) works better. No jargon, no BS.

👉 Grab it here.

Because even the smartest algorithm can’t rescue a muddled pitch.