Digital banks like Grasshopper are helping small business owners plan for long-term success with greater clarity and control.
If you’re a small-business owner, you’re likely facing a uniquely challenging and uncertain time.
For starters, you’re probably facing an efficiency squeeze. Although inflation has stabilized, it’s settled at a high baseline, so rent, labor, and supplies are squeezing your profit margins.
And then there is artificial intelligence. While AI will eventually help you run more efficiently, we’re all stuck in an in-between phase where the technology exists, but the time it takes to figure out what is actually useful for how you run your business does not.
Danielle Kane
Head of Small Business Banking, Grasshopper
“All of this is overwhelming for small businesses,” said Danielle Kane, head of small business banking at Grasshopper. But getting back to a place where you feel in control of your finances doesn’t have to be a massive undertaking.
Here are the three most important steps she recommends small business owners take right now.
Look ahead, not backwards
Cash flow continues to be the biggest stressor for most small business owners, but many aren’t going about it the right way.
“The most dangerous mistake I’m seeing right now is manual blindness,” Kane said, “which means many owners are still relying on the spreadsheets or the monthly reconciliations, which means they’re managing their business in their rearview.”
This reactive approach is no longer enough. When things move this quickly, yesterday’s numbers are often obsolete before you even finish reviewing them.
This is especially true when it comes to financing; lenders are now putting greater emphasis on real-time cash flow performance to determine a business’s health, not credit scores or review stats.
Kane said you now need to be more forward-thinking for that reason alone. She recommends reviewing your books using 60- or 90-day analytics, along with real-time data from platforms like QuickBooks or Stripe. But doing that consistently takes more than good intentions.
Let digital tools do the heavy lifting
To stay forward-looking, you need to leverage digital tools, especially ones that give you a clearer, real-time view of your finances and help you act on it. Increasingly, that includes tools with built-in AI.
A survey by the Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council found that 73% of small business owners who use AI technology to help run their operations say it has been the key to staying competitive and increasing growth.
In some cases, that can be as simple as asking a question. With Grasshopper’s MCP-based AI connector, you can securely connect your bank account to tools like ChatGPT or Claude to quickly understand how your business is doing and where it may be in a few months.
This saves entrepreneurs a considerable amount of time, which is one of the most valuable resources, Kane says, when running a company.
Eliminate friction
It can be easy to get bogged down managing a bunch of digital tools, which is why Kane says it’s important to reduce friction.
“Instead of jumping between multiple tabs or apps to pay a vendor, send a digital invoice, or check your balance, owners need to move their operations into a single ecosystem where they can have all this done in one workflow,” she said.
When your tools are disconnected, even simple tasks take longer than they should. A more unified setup not only saves time, it also makes it easier to stay organized, reduce errors, and make decisions without second-guessing your numbers.
Kane recommends looking for banks that help you consolidate your financial data and keep your core business functions in one place, like Grasshopper.
Grasshopper for small businesses
Grasshopper is a digital bank built for small business owners who need a simpler way to manage their finances. It takes less than five minutes to open an account, and once you log in, you can start managing cash flow, moving money, automating bookkeeping, and sending digital invoices immediately.
Instead of adding another tool to your stack, it replaces the need to juggle multiple platforms with a clearer, real-time view of your business and fewer steps to get everyday tasks done.
You’ll also be able to unlock AI-driven insights to help you look ahead and keep your business competitive for the long-term.
“A small business owner wears many hats,” Kane said. “They’re the CFO, they’re the marketing team, and they’re the ones that are speaking with customers. They have only a certain amount of time in the day. They don’t have time to worry about cash flow. We give them the tools that are needed to help manage the day-to-day business in a digestible, accessible manner.”
For business owners already balancing competing priorities, the goal isn’t to do more. It’s to make the essentials easier to manage.
