Big Data For Small Businesses and How To Make Use of It

The definition of ‘Big Data’ for small business might be easily confused with the enormity of data that a company owns. As an SME owner, you might think that your amassed data is not as substantial as those that large companies have. But in reality, data is just simply data, and the only differentiator is the way an organization makes use of it.

Even the smallest business could own a comprehensive data set collected from its customers, and that can definitely be considered as big data. But just how can you get started on big data analytics and use it to improve your business?

Getting Started with Big Data

Nowadays, businesses are extracting data at an unprecedented rate, but not all of them know what to do with all those mounds of information. As an SME owner, you must understand what big data is for—it’s to gain a holistic view of your customer. If you know where they are, what they want, and what turns them off, you can strategically position your brand to your niche market and customize your offerings according to their needs and preferences, making them appreciate and patronize your business even more.

Have a Set of Questions to Answer

Gathering data from your customers might be pointless if it doesn’t drive toward a specific point. Oftentimes, what happens is that businesses tend to focus too much on extracting as much info as they could, without having any clear goal of what they want their business to achieve. To get started, determine the right questions on which you need answers to, to add value to your brand and increase profits. This will create your strategy and will help you to filter out the most appropriate big data solutions to achieve your goals.

Big Data Technology

Once you have figured out what questions to ask, big data management tools can aid in extracting and organizing collected data from customers, and paves the way for easy transition into Business Intelligence software. Aside from seamlessly integrating data from various sources, Business Intelligence creates a highly visible connection among all of them, highlighting trends and opportunities through visualizations.

However, you must never expect these forms of technology to tell you exactly what to do; they are just meant to organize and present data clearly in front of you. At the end of the day, your main questions and your decisions upon the insights provided is still the main driver of your business strategy.

In conclusion, big data is simply troves of data collected from customers. It is never just about the billions of consumer profiles a company has, but more of how all sorts of information are integrated and analyzed to meet business goals. Making sense out of big data does not need to be expensive, you just need to have a focused strategy in place.

Do you need help in making big data work for your business? D&V can help! With our expertise in big data analysis techniques for SMEs, we can strategize on how to achieve your business goals through the use of your accumulated customer data. Get in touch with us now to learn more.