Spring 2024 US National Survey Results

 |  2 min read
Research

Spring 2024 US National Survey Results

In February 2024, Venture Forward completed its latest U.S. national survey with responses from more than 3,500 small business owners.* Most of these businesses employ fewer than ten people, classifying them as a microbusiness. Below are the insights on microbusiness entrepreneurship found from our fifth consecutive year of surveying entrepreneurs.

*Entrepreneurs who have a domain name and active website with GoDaddy. 

Key Insight

Microbusiness owners are using Generative AI (GenAI) to level the playing field.

agree that GenAI will help them compete with larger businesses.
Source: GoDaddy Venture Forward National Survey, February 2024 (N=3,500+).
tried GenAI tools in the past few months.
Source: GoDaddy Venture Forward National Survey, February 2024 (N=3,500+).
tried GenAI for their business specifically.
Source: GoDaddy Venture Forward National Survey, February 2024 (N=3,500+).

The top use cases of GenAI by microbusinesses are content creation, marketing and business advice.

  • Content Creation: Create first drafts of text for social media posts, video or graphics.
  • Marketing: Ad creation, personalization by customer, automation of campaigns.
  • Business Advice: Strategy recommendations, technical help such as coding.
  • Customer Service: Use of chatbots, creating first drafts, forecasting needs.
  • Boosting Sales: Identify and overcome objections, how to build trust and rapport.
Percentage of entrepreneurs who used GenAI for the following business tasks
Category
Content Creation
Marketing
Business Advice
Customer Service
Boosting Sales
Source: GoDaddy Venture Forward National Survey, February 2024 (N=3,500+).
Microbusiness owners who say GenAI will help their small business be more competitive are more likely to have previously outsourced or hired someone to help with similar tasks.
Source: GoDaddy Venture Forward National Survey, February 2024 (N=3,500+).
Business tasks: GenAI vs. outsourcing
Used GenAI for*
Hired or outsourced for
Writing content for me
Creating or editing multimedia content
Summarizing information or text
Generating recommendations for marketing operations
Getting business or market insights from data
Writing computer code
Helping me with business operations
Source: GoDaddy Venture Forward National Survey, February 2024 (N=3,500+). *Respondents who tried GenAI and experienced a positive benefit.
Key Insight

Microbusiness entrepreneurs rapidly adopting GenAI own growing businesses and feel confident about their future.

How confident are you as a user of GenAI for your business?
55%
29%
17%
Source: GoDaddy Venture Forward National Survey, February 2024 (N=3,500+).
Microbusiness owners whose monthly revenue increased in the last six months are more likely to have used GenAI for their business.
Source: GoDaddy Venture Forward National Survey, February 2024 (N=3,500+).
Over the last six months, how has your business’ average monthly revenue changed?
Not Used GenAI
Used GenAI
My revenue increased
My revenue decreased
Source: GoDaddy Venture Forward National Survey, February 2024 (N=3,500+).

The more ambitious the microbusiness owner, the more likely they are using GenAI.

What are your long-term aspirations for your business?

  • Solo entrepreneur and stay small.
  • Small business with some employees and/or a physical location.
  • Mid-size business with several employees and/or multiple physical locations.
  • Corporate business with a large employee base and headquarters.
What are your long-term aspirations for your business?
Not used GenAI
Used GenAI for their business
Solo entrepreneur
Small business
Mid-size business
Corporate business
Source: GoDaddy Venture Forward National Survey, February 2024 (N=3,500+).

Microbusiness owners using GenAI are more likely to feel positive about their business and the national economy.   

Positive outlook for my business vs. the national economy
Source: GoDaddy Venture Forward National Survey, February 2024 (N=3,500+).
Positive business outlook next six months
Have used GenAI
Have not used GenAI
Source: GoDaddy Venture Forward National Survey, February 2024 (N=3,500+).
Positive economic outlook next six months
Have used GenAI
Have not used GenAI
Source: GoDaddy Venture Forward National Survey, February 2024 (N=3,500+).
Key Insight

Microbusiness owners using GenAI are diverse, with Black and Hispanic business owners using GenAI more for their business compared to other demographics.

Microbusiness entrepreneurs who have tried GenAI are more likely to have used it for their business instead of for fun or personal use, and that holds even stronger with Black and Hispanic entrepreneurs.

Nearly 1 in 3 Black and Hispanic-owned microbusinesses use GenAI for business.
Source: GoDaddy Venture Forward National Survey, February 2024 (N=3,500+).
“In the past few months, have you tried using GenAI tools?”
Yes, for personal
Yes, for my business
White
Black
Asian
Hispanic
Source: GoDaddy Venture Forward National Survey, February 2024 (N=3,500+).

Generation Z and millennial microbusiness owners who have tried GenAI are more likely to have used it for their business instead of for fun or personal use,

“In the past few months, have you tried using a GenAI tool?”
Yes, for personal
Yes, for business
Gen Z and millennials
Gen X
Baby boomers
Source: GoDaddy Venture Forward National Survey, February 2024 (N=3,500+).
Key Insight

The majority of microbusiness owners who tried GenAI said they experienced a positive impact on their business. Those who haven’t, however, cite five common reasons for their hesitation.

Reasons for not having tried GenAI for my business
I’m not familiar with AI
My business has no need for it
I don’t have time
It would take too long to learn for it to be useful
It costs too much money
Source: GoDaddy Venture Forward National Survey, February 2024 (N=3,500+).

Key Takeaways

Download the full survey results here

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