How UK Small Firms Can Save Over 5 Hours a Week with AI | Polly Dhaliwal, Enterprise Nation

Episode Summary In this episode of The Cashflow Show, host Clayton M Coke speaks with Polly Dhaliwal, Chief Operating Officer at Enterprise Nation. They discuss how UK SMEs are using AI to save an average of 5.2 hours per week, practical ways small businesses are applying the technology, the importance of using saved time creatively, age-related adoption patterns, quick wins, and the free SME AI Accelerator programme run with OpenAI. Chapters 00:00 – Introduction and welcome 00:29 – About Enterprise Nation and Polly’s role 01:54 – SMEs saving 5.2 hours a week with AI 02:48 – What the productivity gain looks like in practice 03:45 – Using saved time for creativity and strategy 05:39 – What small businesses most want AI to do 08:01 – Real example: florist wins £10,000 with AI support 09:29 – Age and AI adoption 12:39 – Older business owners as strong adopters 13:06 – Common AI use cases 14:02 – Quickest wins for time-pressed owners 17:42 – SME AI Accelerator programme with OpenAI 19:34 – Common fears around AI 21:27 – Where to find more support  Key Discussion Point UK SMEs adopting AI are saving an average of 5.2 hours per week  Common uses include email automation, customer service, operations, pricing and research  The real value lies in how the saved time is used — especially for creativity and strategic thinking  Customer support inquiries are one of the fastest and highest-impact use cases  Deep research and content support also deliver strong results  40% of decision-makers over 55 are not using AI, yet experienced owners can produce excellent outputs  Younger people are not always adopting AI as quickly as expected  Free hands-on workshops through the SME AI Accelerator help businesses build practical skills Key Takeaways AI is already delivering measurable time savings for small businesses  Saved time should be deliberately reinvested in creative and growth-focused work  Starting with customer support and research often delivers the quickest results  Experience and good prompting can make older business owners highly effective AI users  Free, practical, in-person training accelerates adoption and confidence Notable Quotes “How we use that saved time is the most important part here.” – Polly Dhaliwal  “AI is only as good as the person who’s inputting into it.” – Polly Dhaliwal  “Small businesses are adaptable. They will adapt to anything that is thrown their way.” – Polly Dhaliwal  Actionable Insights for Businesses Start with high-volume, repetitive tasks such as customer support emails  Use AI for research, summarisation and first drafts to free up time  Deliberately block time to work on strategy and creativity with the hours saved  Train AI tools on your tone of voice and processes for better results  Take advantage of free practical programmes such as the SME AI Accelerator  Focus saved time on higher-value activities such as funding applications and growth planning Resources Enterprise Nation: enterprisenation.com  Free newsletter every Wednesday with opportunities and support  SME AI Accelerator programme (in partnership with OpenAI)  Around 300 events a year across the UK and Ireland The Cashflow Show can be reached here: Website: www.thecashflowshowpodcast.com  Email: [email protected] Twitter: https://twitter.com/thecashflowshow  Instagram: https://instagram.com/thecashflowshowpodcast To sponsor or advertise on The Cashflow Show Podcast, contact us at [email protected] Clayton M Coke can be found here: LinkedIn: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/claytoncoke Email: [email protected] Twitter: https://twitter.com/prmsltd Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/prmsltd/ Our theme music is called "The Mediator - aka Theme from The Cashflow Show" [PRS] and "Better Call Clayton" [PRS]  “What are YOU like?”, “60 Second Shoot-Out” &"What About The Tech?" are all intellectual properties of Dialogue [London] Ltd (c) Clayton M Coke/PRMS Ltd/Dialogue [London] Ltd | All Rights Reserved  ★ Support this podcast ★