How Small Businesses Can Benefit from the Big Data Revolution

The discussions and forums about Big Data this days is mostly about how big organizations can benefit from Big Data

In fact, the benefits of Big Data are available to all businesses – whatever their size. Certainly, not all businesses will be doing the same things as each other but they don’t need to. The point is that the huge explosion of data availability, network capacity and processing power over the past 5 or 10 years can benefit nearly everyone – whatever their means.

But there are plenty of reasons why small businesses should be just as excited by the prospect of turning big data techniques and technologies to their advantage.

Here’s a look at some of the key ways in which small companies can delve into big data and leverage on the existing platforms in any field.

1)  Look for Gaps in the Market

Take full advantage of the many free or inexpensive resources that are available via the internet. Big data can support small companies in becoming medium-sized and even large-scale operators by helping them to identify new opportunities in their own or in a related field of operations.

Crucially, business bosses in these instances can use big data not only to identify opportunities but also to reduce the risks involved in pursuing them.

2) Kill your fear

Don’t be intimidated by the things you read other companies are doing. You can easily ramp up your capabilities later, as you gain experience. Don’t be intimidated by the things you read other companies are doing. You can easily ramp up your capabilities later, as you gain experience. Don’t be ashamed to start by doing more with your internal sources before moving to external sources.. 

3) Solve a Problem

Just as with larger organizations, the most obvious way in which big data can be deployed with valuable effect is in the context of problem solving.

Having large quantities of data collected routinely in relation to the everyday processes of a company, whether large or small, opens up a clear potential for these processes to be seen in a new light.

Sometimes the collection of big data will immediately give small businesses clarity on what they’ve been doing wrong or what they might be able to do better. But other times it will take in-depth analysis and careful consideration before these kind of insights are arrived at. Either way, the problem solving potential of big data for small businesses is usually very substantial indeed.  

4) Look for Flexible Options

Many innovative companies are only too happy to talk about how they are using Big Data to improve their businesses. Copy the best ideas!

Big data services are increasingly being delivered on the basis of relatively inexpensive terms which open up the prospect of smaller companies taking advantage of them more easily.

Commitments required of small companies in these contexts are being minimized by big data service providers who understand that major upfront investments are not usually an option for small-scale operators.

Using big data services on flexible terms in turn gives small companies flexibility to utilize these services in ways that suit their businesses and various the ways in which they operate.

5) Check out The Gains

Large amounts of computing power are at your disposal through online services such as Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud Platform at low cost. To really make the most of big data, an organization needs to find ways of asking the right questions. Perhaps the most obvious question to ask for small and large businesses alike is something along the lines of ‘how can we streamline our processes and save money?’

The answer to that question can vary significantly from company to company but there’s every reason for a contemporary small business to be confident of using big data to find valuable savings and potentially game-changing efficiency gains.

6) Think Big Data.

Adopt a mindset that is open to using Big Data to help drive the business and make better decisions.
 Become a data-driven organization. Hard facts are now available on a large number of subjects that were previously the realm of conjecture or guts feel.
Think creatively. This isn’t something to be delegated purely to an IT department or a set of business analysts.

Summary

 There is nothing particularly different about ‘Big Data’. Yes, there are industrial processes generating massive volumes of data requiring specialized tools and skills to analyze. However, for the majority of small businesses, there are immediate benefits to be gained just from accessing a wider range of sources and digging deeper into existing data Big data tends to be associated more readily with the activities of multinational enterprises, there is a great deal of scope too for the field to have a major impact on how small businesses perceive their own operations, their customers and the competitive landscape in which they operate