Get Small Companies Started On Big Data

By John Kullmann

Get Small Companies Started On Big Data

Does Big Data leverage value to small companies? Smaller businesses may be focusing at specific problems so it’s wise to start out small. There is a deluge of information on everything freely available on the internet. Small companies can go ahead and start out by setting their own google analytics and try to make sense of specific business related information available on the web. Also, small to medium companies operating for a year or so are likely to have tons of Big Data idling in their system or records that can be used to derive useful statistics. Unsurprisingly most of the Enterprise companies make use of the Big Data advantage to devise strategic decisions for better business prospects. Big Data is changing the business landscape and small companies need to utilize it to understand the intelligence behind unstructured data to bloom their business. Big Data Analytics play a key role in enhancing product quality, improving marketing operations and establishing good customer relationships. Sustainability of your business is important as analyzing a simple transaction is vital to stay ahead of your competitors. 

So how can small companies get started in the world of Big Data? According to Dr. Demirhan Yenigan, a Big Data Expert and Professor of Analytics at GWU, any company entering the Big Data arena should have a solid backing from its executive team to make their organization data centric or data driven. This is important while framing the business strategies and it is highly recommended to create a culture that is data driven and is endorsed by the top management. The starting point to this mission is to do web analytics that tracks all data to understand the business trends and possibilities.

Many small business companies believe that Big Data analytics projects are costly and sophisticated to take on. Small businesses are more agile, making it more suitable to act on data centric insights faster and efficiently. Small businesses should take advantage of the large public datasets to glean customer insights. Some metrics include customer spending habits, frequency of purchase, etc. For example, a retail store could collect all the click through information from their website and apply google analytics free tool to leverage insight. Using google analytics built in reporting capabilities you can create a sales funnel showing various trends in the shopping user experience that ultimately leads to purchase. Various types of analysis can be performed by tracking the user traffic, clicks on a particular page, which product is of high demand giving good idea about peoples purchase decision.

Social media is a powerful platform for marketing, understanding customer preferences and experience. With social media, it is easy to carry out targeted advertising for specific age groups and geographical areas where products are sold out. Small companies need not worry about the data infrastructure of their information as they can leverage the ever increasing readymade analytics apps. It is advisable to integrate data analysis into your operations.

 For small businesses, here are the key aspects they should expect from a Big Data solution:

  • Simplicity – Easily deployable solution with all capabilities work seamlessly. 
  • Flexibility – Complete solution with the required capabilities of their choice integrated. 
  • Easy to Learn – Solution should be easily understandable to data analyst. 
  • Affordable Cost – Right pricing for the required capabilities with licensing strategy that doesn’t hinder the business scalability.

In a nutshell, Data analysis can be incorporated in your business by starting with a business strategy to capture metrics and germane data followed by analytics and reporting that are building blocks for transforming your business. Data strategy should be implemented in an intelligent and structured way; this is what differentiates a large enterprise from the one that uses data on an ad-hoc basis. 

Do you want to increase your sales? Achieve high customer satisfactory index? Maintain repeat customer business? These are some of the hackneyed questions for which Big Data is an inevitable solution. It is worth mentioning that Big Data is an opportunity for unlocking your company’s minute data sets that can help in framing smarter business strategies. Be smart, do great things with your small business and make it also big. For more insights on big data analytics process, get in touch with us.


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By John Kullmann | November 29th, 2016 | Process Automation

About the Author

John Kullmann Director, Special Projects, Macrosoft

John Kullmann

John is the Director for Special Projects at Macrosoft. In that capacity, he works with new and existing clients to clearly understand their requirements and translate them for the software development teams. John has extensive experience in Six Sigma, Lean Engineering and managing international operations. His background has allowed him to be responsible for ensuring ongoing client satisfaction. John consistently provides excellent customer service, ensuring the highest quality.

John is a frequent speaker at industry events and is the Chairman of the Morris County Chamber of Commerce Tech Talk Forum.

Though John always takes his work very seriously, he does not take himself so serious. Outside of work, John sits on the Board of Directors for Family Nature Summits. Additionally, he plays tennis and enjoys every outdoor activity.

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