Small Business at a Crossroads

Why Tax Cuts Won’t Shield You from the AI Economy

Author

Lilit Petrosyan
July 01, 2025

On July 1, 2025, the U.S. Senate passed Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill, making the 2017 tax cuts permanent, expanding deductions, and cutting back on regulations and clean energy incentives.

For small business owners, it might feel like a green light:

  • Lower taxes

  • Looser policies

  • More room to breathe

But here’s the catch:

Tax relief buys time. It doesn’t buy sustainability. The real challenge facing your business isn’t taxes. It’s the accelerating impact of AI on customers, employees, operations, and competition.

You’re at a Fork in the Road

The next few years will divide small businesses into two groups:

Those who adapt

  • Use tax savings to automate admin, marketing, and service delivery

  • Upskill teams to work alongside AI tools

  • Operate leaner, smarter, and faster

Those who stall

  • Rely on low-wage labor and manual processes

  • Delay system upgrades

  • Get outpaced by more agile competitors—even with less funding

The businesses that win will treat tax cuts as runway, not rescue.

4 Strategic Shifts to Make Right Now

1. Automate What Doesn’t Need a Human

Use AI to handle:

  • Customer inquiries

  • Bookkeeping

  • Marketing emails and content

  • Appointment scheduling

If it’s repetitive, predictable, or rules-based, AI can likely do it faster, and free up your people for what really matters.

2. Upskill Your Existing Team

Your best employees don’t need replacing, they need retraining.

Invest in:

  • AI tools they can use (ChatGPT, Notion AI, Canva, etc.)

  • Basic data literacy

  • Decision-making and creative problem-solving

Give your people tools and trust. They’ll return it in loyalty and innovation.

3. Rebuild for Resilience, Not Routine

Ask yourself:

  • What parts of my business haven’t changed in 3+ years?

  • Where am I relying on “how we’ve always done it” thinking?

  • If I had to serve twice the clients with half the staff, what would I automate first?

Treat AI not as a trend, but as the new baseline.

4. Watch Your Energy Costs

The bill eliminates clean energy incentives. But AI-driven tools (and the cloud infrastructure behind them) demand a lot of power.

If you’re scaling tech use:

  • Look at energy-efficient options

  • Plan for operating costs long-term

Don’t wait for ESG requirements to catch up, you’ll be ready when they do

The Bottom Line

Tax policy might have changed, but your biggest risk isn’t Washington.

It’s stagnation.

By 2028:

  • Businesses not using AI will see margins shrink

  • Labor costs will rise, even for basic tasks

  • Customer expectations will shift toward speed, personalization, and digital fluency

This is not the time to wait and see.

It’s time to retool. Retrain. Reinvent.

Because the future of small business isn’t small, it’s smart.

Need help getting started with automation, team upskilling, or AI tools that actually move the needle? We’d be glad to share a few high-impact ideas you can implement fast - book your complimentary call with us!

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