Rethinking ROI: It’s More Than Just Money
Ok, follow me for a second. We know what ROI means. It’s “return on investment.” It’s money, right? But I want to talk about the real benefit of AI tools when it comes to business because I don’t think it’s all about money.
Let’s redefine ROI. To be completely honest, ROI, when it comes to automating my business and investing in AI tools, is not just about profit. What I really care about is more time with my family and peace of mind while I’m with them.
I could force myself to have fun on a camping trip while my business is falling apart and people need me. Knowing there are fires to put out, but I’m camping, so someone else is just dripping water on the flames, and I’m over here roasting marshmallows with it.
Please don’t get me wrong, it’s so, so important for your mental health to be able to do this. To disconnect who you are at your core from how well your company is doing. Because at the end of the day, your company’s success is not tied to your value as a human. But it is so much easier to have these beautiful moments with your family, or friends, or even just treating yourself solo, if your company is running smoothly and the only fire is your beautiful flickering campfire.
How AI Tools Give You Your Hours Back
AI tools will give you hours back. That’s just a fact. What you do with those hours is up to you.
I personally spend more time on money-making and big-picture tasks in my company. I’ve found that even just a few hours a week poured into my strategic growth plan has massive long-term impact.
There are also immediate money making tasks I focus on, and the rest of the time, I spend with my family while my business works without me. I like to sew too. I just finished an adorable costume for my daughter. That might sound unrelated, but here, it matters. Because the only reason I had the time and mental space to do that is thanks to AI tools and automation. That’s real life ROI, and you can’t put a price on it.
AI tools help by automating repetitive tasks. That’s the easiest first step. If you’ve read my blog article “WHY AI? WHY SMALL BUSINESSES NEED IT (LIKE, YESTERDAY),” then you know I’ve automated most of my business in simple and very complicated ways.
But repetitive tasks are the best place to begin. Here are just a few beginner-friendly but powerful AI tools:
Recommended Beginner AI Tools
- Zapier – Connects apps and automates workflows like data entry, follow-up emails, and copying info between tools. I am Zapier obsessed.
- Motion – AI-powered calendar and task manager. Optimizes scheduling, rescheduling, and productivity. This tool took me a bit to get use to, but it is worth it.
- Copy.ai – Writes short-form marketing copy for emails, websites, product descriptions, social posts, and creates sales pipelines.
- Tidio AI – AI-powered live chat for your website. Handles FAQs with prebuilt responses and fast setup. This helps relieve my team of easy to answer questions.
- Otter.ai – Meeting notes and transcription. Other options include Fireflies.ai, MeetGeek, and Sembly AI. We use a meeting notes AI tool at every company and customer meeting.
- Grammarly Business – Rewrites emails, fixes grammar, edits blogs and product descriptions. Better than ChatGPT at polishing, trust me.
- Trello – Project management with built-in automation: status updates, reminders, task assignments.
- Monday – A personal favorite. Combines project management with AI support. CRM, workflows, order tracking. I have it integrated with our company database and it’s incredible.
AI Helps Your People, Not Replaces Them
The benefits of AI for small business aren’t about replacing people. It’s about making your team more effective. In my business, I want everyone to have peace of mind to spend their time in the most valuable ways, not just me.
Yes, my employees are full-time and I expect full-time work. But thanks to AI tools, they’re not spending their days buried in repetitive tasks. They’re engaging in meaningful conversations with customers. Managing dozens of orders and leading big projects from start to finish.
Their days are packed with purpose. And because of that, they get better pay. PTO. Excellent health insurance with dental and vision. Profit sharing. 401k with company match. Bonuses. The list really goes on. I love my people.
I can give back to them because I don’t have to hire a huge team. Automation covers so much.
Is there anything wrong with humans doing repetitive tasks? No. But for me and my company, I’ve chosen to structure it like this.
Is It Worth the Cost?
Yes, AI tools cost money. And yes, it can be hard to click that “pay annually” button over and over. I’ve spent over $100,000 automating my business. I KNOW.
But if you break it down, AI tool cost vs. hours saved, it’s usually worth it. You have to actually use and implement them, of course. And if you buy a tool you never use? That’s okay too. Trial and error is part of adopting new tech.
Jasper AI: A Quick ROI Example
Let’s take Jasper AI. It’s an outstanding writing tool for blog posts, emails, product descriptions, and social captions. Any writing that’s marketing centered. The starter plan is $39/month (cough cough billed annually, and yes, that cough was suspiciously specific).
I like Jasper because it just sounds better than ChatGPT for marketing.
Say you write one blog post about a product per week. Before Jasper: 2 hours per post. With Jasper: 30 minutes. That’s 1.5 hours saved weekly = 6 hours a month.
If your business makes $150,000/year, your time is worth about $75/hour. That’s $450/month in value. Jasper costs $39/month.
That’s a 10x return. Worth it? You tell me.
The more money your company makes, the more money your time is worth. The more automation makes sense.
Not All AI Tools Are Created Equal
Please, always do the free trial. Some tools look shiny but are all hat and no cattle. Others promise you the world and you just end up with a fancy dashboard but not much more.
Here are my three filters:
- Does it save time?
- Does it make work easier for me or my team?
- Can I learn the basics in under an hour without a stress headache?
If it’s too much trouble to use, no matter how powerful it is. It’s out. Life’s too short to wrestle with confusing software when AI is supposed to make life easier, not harder.
The Real Takeaway
The real ROI of AI isn’t just about more money. It’s about more margin in your calendar, in your team’s workload, and in your own damn mind.
The benefits of AI and automation are in hours. It makes your people stronger. It lets you lead without losing yourself. That, to me, is the best return on investment you can get.
Thank you for reading, check out more Ai related articles HERE.
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