How Data Analytics Can Help You Become a Better Entrepreneur? The most valuable commodity I know of is information. - Gordon Gekko, Wall Street
By Yogesh Kumar Bhatt •
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While operating in diverse industry verticals, every entrepreneur shares a common goal – transforming ideas into an operational business proposition. Through the collaboration of multiple business concepts, entrepreneurs move towards achieving success bit by bit. However, the path towards accomplishing this goal is divided, one with influential data insights and the other with presumption.
The entrepreneurial path followed by Amazon, Apple, and Google was not an assumption-based accidental success route. Through the years, these companies have incorporated data-based insights into their processes and operational functioning.
An information-driven business strategy with tangible objectives inspire measurable results and redefine decision-making. Pairing definite objectives with valuable data delivers indispensable information regarding consumer patterns, future prospects, and competitor's position.
Better Up-selling and Cross-Selling
Research says that data analytics demand has increased by 4X and data visualisation by as much as 25X.
Both data analytics and business intelligence allow entrepreneurs to use patterns related to customers. Identifying these unique patterns linked to separate customer segments offers a peek into up-selling and cross-selling business opportunities.
Listen to Consumers
When selling products and services to a wide range of customers spread across different business verticals, reviewing brand sentiment is necessary. BI and data analytics allow understanding of these emotions exhibited by customers for a particular product or service. Knowing these driving factors that bring customers to the business offers an understanding of how to improve customer experience, cross-sell, and up-sell.
The cross-selling and up-selling thus, created include collaborating different product sections as "Purchase Together' items or offering suggestions which can be purchased on a click. The non-e-commerce entrepreneurs can speak to the customer about the special, valuable additions to the package.
Understand Customer Behaviour
A bird's eye view of customers' purchase history and an insight into what they are not purchasing.
Combining this data analytics information with user surveys helps in finding the focus point required to sell the right product. Entrepreneurs can eliminate distractions and reduce noise related to services and products not desired by the customers – focusing only on what is important and helps in solving customer issues.
Further, analysing customer patterns across several touch-points offers a deep knowledge of the why of customer behaviour:
Which promotions are performing the best? Which promotions are converting?
What parameters improve the performance of marketing efforts? How this can improve future opportunities?
What are the issues faced by customers at different touch-points? How can these bottlenecks be removed?
What concern is stopping the customer from the purchase? Is it the price, the complexity of the website, or the marketing copy?
Competitor Analysis
Entrepreneurs who are just stepping into the industry and starting a new journey lack resources. Data analytics and business intelligence eliminate the lack of resources through competitor analysis. Knowing the performance, patterns, and business propositions of industry leaders, competitors, and other entrepreneurs help in analysing the impact parameters.
The ability to figure out impact parameters and factors allow for the setting of accurate objectives and pathways to reach these objectives. Additionally, the data-based information enhances brainstorming sessions and out-of-the-box thinking to make the service or product better.
Future Planning
Apple didn't reach where it is now through assumption-based thinking and unsubstantiated arguments. This was achieved with thorough data insights and market information. Similarly, entrepreneurs don't have to gamble with the business strategy.
Data analytics helps in analysing the key influences of business, market verticals, and customer impact. Based on which, it is possible to accomplish data-based future predictions and decisions. With clear insights into market trends and industry positions, entrepreneurs can become future-ready, always knowing their next move.
Data Analytics for Improved Efficiency
Advanced BI and data analytics help gather valuable information and automate the processing of several data-sets. Drilling down the data insights, achieving correlations, and industry trends drive business success; and understanding the business through its every vertical leads to faster decisions and shorter turnaround time. Undoubtedly, valuable insights reduce work latency and improve the decision-making process.
