Startup businesses are a risky proposition. This means that if things aren’t done in the most effective way possible, businesses will never make it past the first year. The business plan can often determine whether or not a business gets past the startup phase of the company. When creating a business plan, owners sometimes skip over big data. This is a mistake as the use of big data can be very influential to the success of the company.
At one point or another, every business uses the internet or an internal network of servers. Big data can be a big factor in the success of both startups and existing businesses. Startups and small businesses are more open to new technologies and more readily implement fresh tools into daily business operations. This is often because smaller businesses tend to have the benefit of being more agile. Their resources and capital are less than that of their larger competitors so they must find and use new technologies to gain efficiencies. Knowing this, finding ways of improving efficiency while reducing costs must be a part of ensuring business success.
Big data is a popular technology that often has a large role in startups through the rapid growth of both raw data and tools that are available for data analysis. Big data has given many smaller businesses the edge to compete effectively with some of the bigger companies who dominate their industry. About ninety percent of the world’s data has actually been created in the last couple of years and it is estimated that the amount of structured and unstructured data will grow by 60 to 80 percent more within the next year or so. Both big and small businesses can benefit from data in many ways. Most businesses are looking to use big data to improve and enhance the business’s decision-making process in risk management, customer loyalty and targeting, research and development, and to analyze social behavior.
The process of launching a new business is full of different demands that lead to a number of obstacles. Big data can be beneficial when applied to different tasks and when challenges are clearly defined, analytics will help produce active methods of finding solutions.
The goal for many businesses, is to have early success that leads to a buy-out by a different organization. If a startup or small business is in this type of situation, having a full set of data and other analytic information can help sway the interests of the potential buyer because it provides the necessary data around the business’s success. A full set of data also provides integration of the startup into the purchasing company.
Managing all the data is one of many demands for new business leaders. There are self-service BI solutions that are readily available and are cost-effective and user-friendly that suits most needs. BI also has required customizations available to ensure the scalability and flexibility of the company.
Startups often find themselves going against competitors who have greater resources and a well-developed market share. Developing a customer base is essential for any kind of success, and big analytics is one of the strongest methods available to help manage a growing market share. Detailed information and insights help create personalized consumer engagement strategies. This is an area where small businesses often are more able to meet customer needs than their larger competitors.
Big data can provide timely and relevant feedback and help monitor brand progress in the social media realm. The tools necessary to employ big data for marketing strategies are available in so many different forms that startups find themselves as equipped as industry leaders to create successful marketing campaigns.
With the many complexities around big data, some new businesses might deem it as an unnecessary complication in the early stages of business growth. This would be a risky mistake. Utilizing a data scientist or analytics service in the early days of the business for essential functions could provide the starting point for the development of a big data strategy.
Business startups are uniquely positioned to quickly act on big data insights. It would be unwise to dismiss the field in the earlier stages of the business’s growth when product and customer engagement are most malleable. Finding a way to incorporate big data into a business is well worth the time and effort and will be a big factor in the ultimate success of the business startup.
Contributed by: Linda Gimmeson, a tech writer with a focus in big data, machine learning, & IoT. Linda discusses big data, emerging technologies, and how companies can get real value out of their data.
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