Data-driven business decisions are something small business owners deliver every day. Reviewing sales reports, remembering customer preferences, and evaluating new products are several everyday data interactions. Truthfully, business owners have been making data-driven decisions since the rise of agriculture. Today’s data is readily available, prolific, and overwhelming. Developing a new strategy is essential when making contemporary data-driven business decisions. Here are three tips to consider when creating a small business data strategy:
Map Out Your Sources
As mentioned earlier, your small business has tons of data in the most mundane places. While many small business owners believe their business doesn’t generate enough meaningful data for data-driven decision-making, they aren’t looking in the right places. Figure out where your information comes from and then map out all of your data sources.
Dashboard With A Purpose
Dashboards are excellent tools because they rely on visual graphs and other images to provide users with information regardless of their level of data science experience. However, dashboards must be structured in meaningful ways to yield useful results. For example, self-service visualization tools look amazing, but if the information is interpreted without recognizing confirmation bias or without an open mind, then users will only confirm the decision they already have; this response undermines the very concept of data-driven decisions.
Evaluate Your Options
There are many business intelligence firms capable of assisting business of any size embrace data-driven decision-making. Specialists will assess your data sources and align data tools to reflect the information available as well as the decisions that are important for your business.
Businesses looking at out-of-the-box software options should consider hiring a third-party to evaluate their IT infrastructure. Third-party BI specialists can offer consultation on the best tools for your business, the most effective ways to manage legacy data, and how to scale for future growth. In addition, stakeholders can learn non-biased ways to analyze existing data through the use of custom dashboards.