According to the U.S. Small Business Administration, Florida is home to more than 3.5 million small businesses, employing approximately 3.8 million Floridians. Between March 2023 and March 2024 alone, Florida saw a net addition of more than 16,000 businesses, with small businesses accounting for the majority of both new businesses and net job gains.
Nearly all employers in Florida are small businesses, which account for a large share of the state’s overall job creation, but many operate with limited marketing budgets and skeleton staff. Unlike large enterprises with deep advertising resources, small and medium-sized businesses are increasingly relying on cost-effective digital tools, such as personalized ads and AI-powered platforms, to reach customers and manage day-to-day operations.
May is National Small Business Month, a time when the economic impact of entrepreneurs across the state is highlighted. Now more than ever, Florida’s small business owners are emphasizing the increasing importance of personalized digital advertising and artificial intelligence in competing with larger companies and sustaining growth. Several Florida-based entrepreneurs recently traveled to Washington, D.C., as part of the Meta Business Leaders Network to meet with members of Congress, including Sen. Moody, Rep. Neal Dunn, Rep. Laurel Lee, and Rep. Gus Bilirakis, to discuss how accessible digital tools are supporting small business growth and local economies. Here’s what they had to say:
Brittney Jones, owner of Touched By a Rose Events, a Tallahassee-based event planning company, said personalized digital advertising is essential to how customers find and use her company’s services. She said that while these tools have supported business growth and hiring, AI has become a key efficiency driver, streamlining customer communications and freeing up time to focus on growing the company.
Audra Nasser, founder of Dinner Don, a Tampa-based ready-to-cook business, emphasized that affordable, targeted digital advertising allows small businesses to reach local customers despite having much smaller marketing budgets than larger competitors. He also highlighted the growing role of AI as small and medium-sized businesses seek new ways to operate more efficiently and improve the efficiency of their staff.
Mark Savant, president of Mark Savant Media, a Florida-based marketing and media company, said customer acquisition costs are rising across the advertising industry. He emphasized that personalized digital advertising remains one of the few viable tools small and medium-sized businesses can use to stay competitive, and that AI is increasingly being integrated into business operations as a way to improve productivity and scale responsibly.
Mike Engiles, owner of Crystal Rivers Water Sports in Crystal River, Florida, explained that for a business that relies on tourism and community engagement, reaching the right local audience is important. He shared that personalized digital advertising is helping businesses maintain visibility and competitiveness, while AI is bringing new opportunities to further improve efficiency and customer engagement.
As National Small Business Month continues throughout the year to support small businesses, the experiences of these Florida entrepreneurs highlight the broader reality that when small businesses lack the budgets of larger companies, access to personalized advertising and AI tools can level the playing field and support sustainable growth. Together, business owners emphasized the importance of policies that protect and preserve these digital tools and urged Congress to consider the impact of future legislation on small businesses that rely on digital tools to reach customers, operate efficiently, and continue to grow.
