Small business, big plans: Your tech toolkit for sustainable growth

Business is going great: your team’s growing, you have a loyal customer base, and you’re looking to expand into new markets. 

But as you hire more people, you need to give them the right tools to communicate and collaborate effectively. When your customers reach out, your team needs to be able to respond quickly — because you know that one bad experience can leave a lasting negative impression. And if you’re bogged down in the day-to-day details, you need to find the time to work on what’s going to have the greatest impact on your business.

At Zoomtopia 2025, our annual customer conference, we shared insights designed to help small and midsize businesses (SMBs) address the challenges that come with rapid growth. Watch the replay or read our recap below to see how Zoom can help, whether you’re struggling with too many apps or increased customer demand.

One of the most common challenges small businesses face as they scale is their expanding tech stack. Maybe in the early days, you chose a phone system that worked for you — then you added on an app for virtual meetings, then another one for business chat. Then your sales team realized they needed a scheduling app. Your employees started expensing their AI note-takers (none of which have been formally vetted for security and data privacy). 

With this patchwork approach, nothing quite fits together like it should. At some point, each new app becomes a burden — another login and password to remember, another tool to manage, and another line item in your budget.

What’s the solution? For SMBs, an all-in-one, AI-first platform like Zoom Workplace can help simplify your communication and collaboration. Employees only need to familiarize themselves with one app, making onboarding and training easier. And because your video meetings, chat, phone, scheduling, and collaboration tools are all in one place, you don’t need a dedicated IT team to set up complex integrations. Everything on Zoom Workplace is designed to work together, leaving you and your team to do more and manage less.

Even though it seems like everything can be done online these days, the phone is still the front door for many businesses. If customers want to place an order, book an appointment, or just get a quick question answered, picking up the phone can sometimes be a lot easier than navigating a website. 

But for short-staffed small businesses or solopreneurs, answering every call just isn’t possible. An AI receptionist like Zoom Virtual Agent Concierge for Zoom Phone can help take the pressure off your staff. It doesn’t just route calls or take messages, it uses agentic AI to take action — answering common questions, scheduling appointments, even confirming product availability. It’s like having an always-on concierge who can be there 24/7 for your customers.

But what about when your voicemails are piling up and you need to follow up with your customers and prospects? Zoom AI Companion makes that easier by automatically prioritizing voicemails so the most urgent ones come first, and identifying key tasks so you know what needs immediate attention. 

When your to-do list is overflowing, it can be hard to imagine how you’re going to get everything done during your workday. Finding ways to get some time back can do wonders for your productivity, not to mention your work-life balance. The trick is in figuring out what tasks AI can help you with.

On a typical day, you might need to update your website, prep social media posts, or come up with a project plan. Instead of starting from scratch, you can ask AI Companion to draft it for you in Zoom Docs by pulling in ideas from recent chat conversations and meetings with team members.

Once that plan is ready, you need quick feedback. Instead of adding another meeting to your calendar with the project stakeholders, you can record a short video using Zoom Clips and your AI avatar to walk them through the plan and flag where you need input. You drop both the doc and the clip into Zoom Team Chat so everyone can review and add their thoughts. AI Companion helps track the follow-ups and assigns tasks, so you don’t have to. You have help throughout your workday, which allows you to be more productive with your time.

Finding time to get everything done isn’t the only challenge. Sometimes, it’s making sure you take care of the little details so nothing falls through the cracks. Like that quick ask that gets thrown your way in a meeting, or the weekly check-in with your team. Automation tools can help take those off your plate so you can focus on the bigger picture. 

Say you send your team a weekly chat asking them to update the status of their projects in Zoom Docs. Instead of setting a reminder for yourself, use Zoom Workflow Automation to create a workflow to send that message for you, at the same time every week. Cross that item off your to-do list.

Need an easier way to remember your action items in a meeting? Let AI Companion and Zoom Tasks help with that. After your meeting ends, AI Companion provides a summary and identifies your action items based on the conversation. To keep track of your next steps, just go to the Zoom Tasks tab to see which tasks were assigned to you. 

Watch the replay of Zoomtopia 2025 on demand for more in-depth tips and demos. You’ll learn how Zoom can support your SMB at every stage, whether you’re a solopreneur or looking to take the next step.