Small business owners are constantly being asked to do more—with less time, fewer resources, and increasing complexity. The good news? New tools, platforms, and programs are emerging to help level the playing field.
From AI-powered marketing and payroll solutions to mentorship opportunities and legal resources, here’s a look at some of the latest offerings designed to help small businesses grow, operate more efficiently, and stay competitive.
Building Community and Support
Lenovo partnered with actress, entrepreneur, and investor Eva Longoria to launch Backing Every Business, a global program designed to help SMBs grow through mentorship, community, and AI-powered technology.
Despite the global impact of small businesses, Lenovo says many founders still struggle to access the capital, technology, and strategic guidance needed to thrive. Backing Every Business plans to change that “by combining financial support, meaningful peer connection, and cutting-edge AI-powered technology to help founders grow and scale with confidence.”
At the core of the initiative is a “cross-border mentorship program called Twinning, which pairs small business owners across industries and geographies for one-to-one collaboration. Twinning matches entrepreneurs facing similar challenges, transforming isolation into collaboration and shared momentum.
Longoria says, “Being an entrepreneur is one of the hardest, most daring things you can do. “Every entrepreneur reaches moments where they wish they had someone who truly understands the weight of what they’re building. When entrepreneurs feel supported, entire communities benefit.”
Lenovo’s goal through Backing Every Business is to build a global network where entrepreneurs gain the support, perspective, and practical tools needed to succeed in an increasingly complex digital economy.
While the contest is over, you’ll find many resources on the Backing Every Business page.
Payroll Made Easier
Gusto recently announced it’s bringing payroll directly inside Claude and Slack. This follows its successful launch in ChatGPT earlier this year. The company says the move is to make sure payroll isn’t siloed and can be integrated into a business’s AI stack.
The move enables small business owners to:
- Ask conversational questions about payroll data (such as, “What drove my payroll increase last pay period?” or “How much have we spent on overtime this quarter?”)
- Check headcount in real time and track how it’s changed over time
- Run payroll end-to-end directly inside the conversation, without navigating menus or logging in separately
- Access Gusto payroll and people data without exports, tab-switching, or spreadsheet wrangling
Gusto also announced its acquisition of Mosey, an AI-powered compliance automation platform. This helps small businesses because:
- 1 in 3 gets fined for compliance violations every year
- The average small business (with less than 50 employees) spends roughly $14,700 per employee a year trying to keep up with a patchwork of state and local rules.
- Mosey automates everything from state registrations to tax filings and will be woven directly into Gusto’s platform
Increasing Brand Visibility Across AI Answer Engines
HubSpot just released a new AEO tool and AI updates to its platform.
Key product updates include:
- HubSpot AEO (Answer Engine Optimization): HubSpot says this is the first-of-its-kind dedicated tool designed togive marketers prompts and actionable recommendations, based on customer data, to increase brand visibility across AI answer engines.
- Prompt Tracking & Recommendations: allows you to manage the questions that matter to your business and get AI-powered suggestions by using actual customer data to suggest the prompts you track
- Brand Visibility Dashboard:shows how your brand is performing across AI platforms
- Competitor Analysis:shows your Share of Voice relative to your competition
- Multi-Engine Support:tracks visibility across OpenAI (ChatGPT), Perplexity, and Gemini
- Citation Analysis & Recommendations:shows the domains, source types that matter most, and data to prioritize where you show up.
- HubSpot AEO is available as both a dedicated tool (no HubSpot subscription required) and in Marketing Hub Pro and Enterprise, which uses your CRM data across sales, marketing, and customer history to deliver tailored prompts
- There’s also a prospecting agent and a smart deal progression tool that analyzes call transcripts and deal context to automatically suggest CRM updates, generate follow-up emails, and surface next steps.
Looking for a Franchise Attorney?
If you’re interested in buying a franchise, you’ll need a franchise attorney at some point in the process. Joel Libava, aka the Franchise King, set out to simplify that process. He created The Franchise Attorney Directory to make it “dead simple for aspiring franchise buyers and aspiring franchisors to find and connect with top-notch franchise attorneys who can truly protect them.”
Libava, a 25-year franchising veteran, says, “Hiring the right franchise lawyer doesn’t just help you navigate the complexities of franchising; it shields you from potential pitfalls, shady deals, and costly mistakes that could derail your dreams.
New Unifying Marketing and Sales Automation for Small Businesses
Thryv recently launched Thryv AI Lead Flow™, an “end-to-end solution that connects online visibility, intelligent lead management, and automated sales follow-ups into a single, unified experience that, once set up, from the business owner.”
Thryv AI Lead Flow is an AI-powered small-business marketing and sales platform that connects every step of the customer journey, from the moment a prospect searches online to the moment they become a customer, in a single automated system.
The company says the platform eliminates four of the most common lead management failures that small businesses can experience: failing to appear prominently in search results; failing to prioritize the right leads; failing to follow up quickly; and failing to convert quality prospects into paying customers.
Thryv AI Lead Flow is available now.
Inc. 5000 Deadline Looms
Is your small business rapidly expanding? Then you might want to apply to be named to the Inc. 5000, a coveted listing that recognizes the fastest-growing private companies in the country.
Apply now—the deadline is Friday, April 24, at 11:59 p.m. PT. Applying only takes a few minutes.
Rieva Lesonsky is the founder of Small Business Currents, a content company focusing on small businesses and entrepreneurship. You can find her on Twitter @Rieva, Bluesky @Rieva.bsky.social, and LinkedIn. Or email her at Rieva@SmallBusinessCurrents.com.
Photo courtesy Lenovo