Big Data and Small Business

Big data is consists of billions or trillions of records that are so vast and complex that they require new and powerful computational resources to process. Big data can be analyzed to more efficiently target customers, optimize your supply chain, improve manufacturing efficiency, and increase product innovation. In fact, according to IDBS (see the infographic) 29% of companies that have already used big data say it helps create new revenue. What does big data mean to small businesses?
 

What can big data do for small businesses?
Small companies have the data sets for big data; they just need to use the information. Here are some ways that big data can help your business:
 

Learn more about your customers:
Data analysis of your company’s data, including social media posts, and public information, such as census data, can help you understand customer preferences. This can enable you to tailor your products/services offerings and how you sell to customers.
 

Get ahead of the curve:
Big data can help to predict trends you need to know by analyzing topics on social media, economic conditions, and other relevant public information. Then you can use this information to move your company in directions that can profit from trends.
 

Become more efficient:

Big data can be used to improve your day-to-day operations, such as optimizing your supply chain.
 

How can small businesses proceed?
To analyze your data in order to learn what you can do to grow your business, you need technology. But don’t feel overwhelmed by this.
 

Recognize that you already have the data:
If you’ve been in business for more than one year, your QuickBooks record of sales, pricing, and other information is a good part of your big data. Other data on the weather, economic conditions, consumer spending habits, and other sales-impacting information is available online.

 

Determine your technology budget:
Now that we’re in the final quarter of this year, it’s time to plan your budget for the coming year. Decide how much you can afford to invest in new technology. IDBS found that 36% of businesses are investing or planning to invest in technology for big data.

Do your research:
Identify the technology solutions that will enable you to analyze your date. This may be add-ons to your existing software or cloud-based solutions. You can also use Google Analytics, a free service, to help you examine your web traffic. You may want to use a variety of solutions for optimizing big data.

Turn to experts:
At a loss on how to proceed? IT consultants can advise you on what’s needed for your big data. Alternatively, if you’ve identified a particular question you want big data to answer, you can use experts to do the work for you. Also consider using a company such as IDBS that can help store business data.

Conclusion
Don’t let the word “big” scare you into believing that big data is only for large corporations. Small businesses have the data, can easily obtain the analytic tools, and can utilize the results to grow. Position yourself now to start using big data. 

 

Importance Of Compelling Content Strategy For Small Business

You have the branding. You have the campaign strategy. You have a great product. So why is your small business not attracting and retaining its audience?

The buyer’s journey can be a long one, with plenty of opportunity for detour on the road from awareness to purchase decision. Our world is fast-paced and attention spans are shortening. Not only that, there is competition constantly vying for your audience’s already limited attention.

You design marketing campaigns to enhance brand awareness and increase sales. But you are still struggling to convert consumers to loyal buyers and brand advocates.

Your audience is overwhelmed by choices. When all their options begin to look the same, they struggle to decide which product is best for them. They become paralyzed by their options and frustrated with the buying process.

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How AI Can Help Small Business?

Artificial intelligence (AI) is changing the face of business. No longer a futuristic concept, its impact is real. From tech giants like Google, Apple and Amazon to user-centric behemoths like Uber and Starbucks, everyone seems to be using AI technology to transform the customer experience (CX). But, it’s not just corporate giants that are deploying AI. Smaller organizations are following suit.

Across industries, small businesses are investigating how AI can help them drive down costs, better accommodate customers and remain competitive with their increasingly tech-driven peers. For small businesses unfamiliar with AI, the prospect of rolling it out can be daunting. But, by adopting a strategic approach, small businesses can get a head start on harnessing AI and reaping the benefits it offers.

Applying AI: Learning from Starbucks

Starbucks is one notable example of an enterprise that’s embracing artificial intelligence to optimize its CX. At the end of January, the company announced that it would offer voice ordering capabilities via Alexa, Amazon’s cloud-based virtual assistant with a continuously expanding base of skills. Linking up with Amazon, the coffee giant created a new Alexa skill specifically geared toward ordering at Starbucks. The skill -- called Starbucks Reorder -- provides users with a voice-activated way to place their typical order (“Alexa, tell Starbucks to start my usual order.”) or check their card balance.

Currently in the beta phase, Starbucks’ evolving use of Alexa points to the experimental approach companies are willing to take when it comes to deploying AI. While big business use of AI is generating the most publicity, small businesses should also consider how they can leverage the technology to meet customer needs.

As customers become accustomed to AI-powered solutions like Starbucks’ Alexa offering, they’ll expect the same from their local businesses. Here are some proactive steps small organizations can take to lay the groundwork for business-applied AI:

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How SME Accountants Brace For A Technological Overhaul

Small businesses may struggle to adopt new technologies, but that doesn’t mean they don’t want their accountants out of the loop, too.

A new report from SME cloud accounting company Xero, in conjunction with World Wide Worx, found that South African small business owners want their accountants to have the latest technologies and warned that several technologies are critical for SME accountants and accounting platforms to stay relevant and retain customers.

We are entering a period of rapid technological change within the accountancy profession, reflected Colin Timmis, Xero’s South Africa head of accounting, in a statement. From automation to artificial intelligence, accountants are having to upskill and evolve their offering.

“The report has shown that South African accountants are preparing for change, but they need to ensure they’re clued up on the next big tech innovations and affirm their status as the SME owner’s most trusted advisor,” he continued. “If they can do that, the future looks bright, as 42 percent of accountants peg South Africa as the country to watch for future innovations in the profession.”

It’s an interesting statistic, with Xero finding that South Africa surpasses the U.S. and U.K. as the leading market for innovations in the accounting industry.

Xero’s 2017 State of Accounts report below:

93 percent of SME accountants admit they could add more client value with the spare time they have every day. As cloud accounting and other technologies help to automate the accounting process, accountants are sure to have even more time on their hands they could use for hands-on, value-added services.

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Tips To Save Your Business During Market Crisi

Running a small business is a huge challenge as compared to the larger companies. The success and failure of the firms have an impact on their strategic clarity. However, in order to learn what helps you gain success in your business, there are certain indispensable factors one should infer and imply. If you have an established company and plan to take it a step further beyond its current market status, then the following points will help you understand how to keep a track on your business during business crisis.

Expansion in different location

Expansion of a business can be done considering spreading of your services to new areas. However, resource planning and investment are one of the major concerns here. Thus, always ensure to have a comprehensive business plan before moving to a new location. Keep a track on the location’s latest economic development trends. Moreover, your team of management and administrative staff should be the ones having exceptional knowledge in the field of your services.

Also, ensure that you keep earning the bottom line profits consistently that you have endured gaining in the past years. This minimizes our risk of expansion as consistent profits as earlier are assured. The location you choose should be the market area where there is a huge demand for the services similar to what you offer. Added, always keep track of how you would be obtaining finance to establish your business to a new location. Try to go for a financial loan that has a minimum documentary requirement and offers extended repayment period for business expansion.

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Getting Your Small Business Investment Ready

Owner's Equity is rarely enough for running and growing a business. Every business owner thus aspires to make his or her business attractive for capital providers. Before approaching these capital providers, be they equity investors or lenders, it helps to do plenty of homework. 

Capital providers undertake rigorous assessments of the business to ensure that their investment is protected. While there are a lot of commonalities in the criteria used by equity and debt providers, there are some aspects that one category focuses on more than the other. An equity provider will look less at liquidity and more at long-term growth prospects given the longer horizon. Strategic aspects of the business's product or service will also get more attention from equity investors. Debt providers meanwhile will have a hawk-eye focus on liquidity, short-medium term prospects, leverage levels, and promoter credibility. Let's look at the most critical aspects that a business owner needs focus on before approaching a lender. 

To put it simply, any lender will focus on the '3 Cs': Character, Collateral, and Cash Flow. 

Why is CIBIL so important? 

CIBIL is a tangible proxy for the first 'C', Character. 

Prior to 2006, lenders relied on their credit teams to perform detailed assessments of a business's creditworthiness. This was especially true for MSMEs, which typically did not have an independent credit rating. 

CIBIL collects and maintains records of an individual's payments pertaining to loans and credit cards. Banks and NBFCs submit details to CIBIL on a monthly basis and these submissions are used to create Credit Information Reports (CIR) and credit scores. These scores are provided to credit institutions to help them evaluate credit worthiness.

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Tips To Make Your Small Business Go Global

Helping entrepreneurs to open companies in over 30 countries worldwide has given me a unique insight into what makes an SME work. While I've seen many of those SMEs prosper and go on to achieve success in multiple countries, others have fallen by the wayside because they have failed to understand a few simple rules of business.

To help you avoid making those same mistakes, here are my top five tips to make sure your SME becomes one of the ones that grows and succeeds, and not one that has to put up a permanent ‘Closed for Business’ sign.

1. Money makes the SME

Get a well-respected chartered accountant. I always tell clients to avoid hiring a cheap accountant. People think that by hiring someone cheap (or even using a family friend or doing it themselves) they are saving money because they don’t want to shell out a huge amount at the beginning of their business for a chartered accountant when they’d rather be using the funds for more creative aspects. But every time a client has ignored that advice they’ve run into trouble.

A chartered accountant has to stay up to date with all the latest tax laws so they’ll be able to provide solid advice as to what type of structure you should choose for your SME, and if you’re thinking about a business loan, they’ll be able to steer you in the right direction. To help your accountant, make sure you keep all your files and receipts well organised. It’s important to be prepared, without being paranoid, and be ready for when the taxman comes.

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7 signs your small business is failing

Every small-business owner has good days and bad days, good months and bad months. But how do you know when you’re not just experiencing a temporary downswing but are in serious trouble?

Here are seven key danger signs that your business is about to fail and steps you can take to keep your business healthy:

1. You can’t pay your bills. If the three most important things in real estate are “location, location, location,” the three most important things in small business are “cash, cash, cash.” Profits are nice, but it’s cash flow that keeps your doors open. If you struggle to find cash to pay your employees, bills, or yourself, you won’t last long.

Solution: Get into the habit of checking your financial statements frequently, paying particular attention to cash flow: who’s paying, who’s not; how much you need to stay afloat. Cut costs wherever you can. And get your invoices out fast. Customers won’t pay until you bill them.

2. Sales fall off a cliff. If you aren’t making sales, you won’t stay in business. If you’ve been doing well in the past, but now see sales steadily declining – or taking a sudden nosedive – your small business is in big trouble.

Solution: Don’t simply yearn for the good old days, figure out the root problem. Do you just need to step up your marketing or is there a bigger issue? Is your product or service still relevant? Have your customers switched to competitors? Is your location no longer a good fit? Determine the problem and address it quickly.

3. Your employees keep quitting. Unless you’re a sole proprietor, you need employees to keep your small business doors open. If you continually experience rapid turnover of employees, it’s costly and distracting.

Solution: What’s causing the turnover? Are you paying a competitive wage? Do you give employees predictable schedules? Take a critical look at your own management style and skills. Are you the kind of boss you’d want to work for? It’s time to make some changes.

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SEO Tips for Small Businesses

Every year SEO gets more complicated as Google rolls out updates and changes the rules. This is especially frustrating for small business owners who don’t have the time or resources to stay current in, what they believe to be, an esoteric and confusing industry.

Here are seven small business SEO tips to help earn more business through traditional organic search rankings.

1. Onsite SEO is Necessary But Not Sufficient

Yes, optimizing title tags, site structure (keep it flat) and load-speed are important. Many experiments have shown these elements are in the Google algorithm.

Don’t obsess. Hire someone to run an assessment and tune up the site; then move-on. Far too many small businesses get stuck at the starting line.

2. Website Content & Experience Are Critical

We have all read that “content is king,” but what does that really mean?

Your website must have engaging content for the end-user. The importance of this can’t be overstated. It will impact time-on-site, conversion and SEO (engaging content is more likely to be shared and linked to).

It is also critical because it orients the small business webmaster towards offering something of value. Thin content leaves a bad footprint, both onsite and offsite.

3. Use Content Marketing to Earn Backlinks

Most small business owners are savvy enough to know that 70 percent of their search engine rankings are the result of backlinks. Being a pragmatic bunch, they then ask “where can I buy some?”

Don’t buy backlinks – it also leaves a bad footprint.

Small business marketers need to earn links, and content marketing is extremely effective for gaining earned links. The trick is in the trade. Something of value must be offered.

Quality content containing humor, information, controversy, politics or training usually brings backlinks – and is definitely considered acceptable SEO.

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