Despite the potential for Big Data to enhance your
operations, many small business owners assume it’s out of their reach. If
you’re concerned that Big Data will be too costly for your enterprise, think
again.
There are a wide variety of ways small businesses are using
Big Data to reduce their costs, enhance productivity and maximize profits. From
marketing automation and fleet telematics to customer profiling and lifecycle value; you’ll find that Big Data can enhance every area of your business. To learn more, take a look at why Big Data is so important for small businesses…
Routine tasks
Everyday tasks account for a significant amount of time and resource usage. Whether it’s verifying staff receipts so that they can be claimed as expenses, processing supply contracts or handling statutory staff documentation, you’re regularly spending a lot of time on repetitive tasks.
Big Data can handle all of this and
more. By collecting, structuring, segmenting and analyzing the data, algorithms
can ensure that it’s applied effectively. As a result, your day-to-day tasks
are completed with enhanced accuracy, in a fraction of the time they currently
take.
Customer behavior
Gaining insight into customer behavior is essential for any enterprise. Regardless of whether you’re a B2C or B2B business, you need to know how your customers think, feel and act in order to serve them better.
With text mining, Big Data successfully
enables you to sift through vast amounts of data and identify patterns,
connections, and trends via the words and language used. Instead of being
locked out of valuable data because of your limited resources, you can use Big
Data to mine the text in seconds, and then put your findings to good use.
Location targeting
As most cellphones and mobile devices feature geolocation, you can access location-related information from your target market without breaching any privacy regulations. With Big Data, however, you won’t just learn what areas your customers reside in. In fact, you can determine where they work, what routes they regularly travel, what bricks and mortar venues they visit, etc.
This enhances the level of customer
insight you can gain and also means you can use location-specific content to
increase customer engagement. This is just one way of personalizing your
content and interactions to enhance your customer relationships.
Risk analysis
Traditionally, it’s only been larger firms that have the resources to undertake in-depth risk analysis. Big data puts small companies on a par with multinational corporations in this respect. With the ability to analyze the potential outcome of business decisions and accurately gauge the risks involved, you can make more informed decisions regarding your commercial ventures. This, inevitably, helps you to avoid business pitfalls and increases successful decision-making.
Benefiting from Big Data
Now that Big Data is a reality for small businesses, it’s time to start making the most of it. The accuracy and capabilities of Big Data is important for every enterprise but it’s particularly powerful for small businesses. Whereas limited resources may have prevented you from accessing the information, knowledge, and insights your competitors have, Big Data levels the playing field and gives you all the tools you need.
