Although you are brave and ambitious in your business this doesn’t mean that your company is operating efficiently. A one-off sales order doesn’t mean that your company is getting more business or that the sales of the company have grown. You need to analyze your company’s sales figure, growth figure and profit, and loss statements. Besides that, you are unable to target your products or services efficiently to the consumers. The picture of your target market is blurred. Hence, this calls for some serious action. You can start with basic tools that will help evaluate the effectiveness of a particular part of the business. This approach will save time and money before moving to the next level of your business. You still may feel a need for a professional analyst at a certain point of success.
Benefits of Using Analytics for Business Development
- Business Stability
Many small businesses are simply too lazy to work on the quality of the service. SMEs also do not pay extra attention to building communication with the clients and offer interesting promotions and additional services. Small grocery stores, groups on social networks selling clothes, make-up artists, and massage therapists with home visits do not need to look for a marketing agency. It is easier to take it yourself. Here the need for the master of business analytics arises.
Even in the early stages of business development, you can find potential growth points using an analytics tool:
- Organize your data by making a simple and understandable table.
- Evaluate the positioning and activity of competitors.
- Compare the pitch and approach of market leaders with yours.
- Fix the best and worst indicators in separate directions.
- Consider ways to solve the problem.
- Focus on the strengths of your business.
- Fix tasks promptly to get feedback.
- Process the data and create a plan.
- Need for a Professional Business Analyst
As the business begins to grow; the number of weekly orders exceeds the frightening five-figure. When your business reaches this level, you need an expert analyst. Of course, you can take on additional tasks for yourself to get aware of new technologies, understand the mechanics, and understand the nuances. Firstly, you will lose the time you could spend on a comprehensive business strategy. Secondly, you will get disappointed because of unjustified expectations.
- Business Issues
We come across companies that have real problems with management control, well-established communication with customers, and adjustment of advertising campaigns. These problems subsequently lead to a drop in supply and loss of profit.
In this situation, it is necessary to optimize the processes. For some reason, leave the analytics for later, preferring to go on the payback without the help of numbers. The development of certain areas helps to avoid the outflow of potential customers and reduce advertising costs. A small business will never become medium, and subsequently large if it is dismissive of working with data.
When you need to contact a specialist:
- Big piles of statistical records and reports to analyze.
- Not enough time to solve complex problems.
- We need to find potential growth points.
- Planning to increase your advertising budget.
- Poor performance from the managers to keep all the records up to date.
- Who Will Solve the Problem
You should set serious tasks for studying all areas of business that will entail real changes in internal processes and market positioning. An entrepreneur cannot manage these tasks without the help of a specialist. At the same time, you do not need to find only an advertisement specialist to demonstrate performances for clients, but an owner of practical experience.
Many businessmen depend on the level of trust and established communication. Therefore, it is advisable to refrain from saying “you do not need to know”, “maybe you will sell the data to competitors,” or “profit indicators only from the director and accountant.”
I understand the fears of entrepreneurs, but now all agreements can be safely supported by a particular document. The document contains clearly stated hefty fines and reputation risks of the contractor. High-quality agencies automatically include this item, as they are used to working with sensitive data. However, it is better to make secure with freelancers by legally fixing the boundaries of what is allowed.
- For Entrepreneur
There are three options that every entrepreneur can take advantage of – hire a specialist, find an intelligent freelancer, or contact an agency. Where to find the master? What to focus on when choosing? How should he prove himself in a meeting?
A good analyst asks a lot of questions to get the maximum information. He understands the direct dependence of the final result on the volume of the source data.
Here are a few more criteria for a quality analyst:
- Relies on measurable performance tools.
- He doesn’t use ambiguous words “approximately”, “possibly”, “most likely”.
- Examines all available information.
- Provides a detailed work plan with clear deadlines.
- Uses specialized services and tools.
- He makes an accurate forecast.
Cost of Hiring an Analyst
Any development and scaling of a business involve additional costs that will help it to achieve new set goals. You cannot invest in the optimization of internal processes and work on the quality of service; at the end to wait for millions. This approach is doomed to failure if you do not offer a unique product. In other cases, the entrepreneur needs to allocate expenses and relate them to potential risks correctly.
Types of Analyst
- Freelancer Analyst
This option is cheaper (if we are not talking about high volume data) than to hire an analyst or contact an agency. Moreover, you can often lose contact with him or regularly hear requests for transferring the deadline.
- Contract-based Analyst
It is an advantage to contact the consultant or a contractor. A contract-based analyst shows a high level of involvement, controls the access to information, and responsibility for data handling and managing. You have to spend money on proper reasons, otherwise, it will count everything wrong and make it worse in the end.
- Agency
Of course, you may find several experienced agencies who have practical skills and qualified staff. They are ready to join you at any time to handle the data analytics. Importantly, the entrepreneur will receive guarantees of achieving the result specified in the contract.
What Result to Expect
Only a systematic approach to work, cost optimization, targeted impact on performance, and a high level of quality of service can ensure the company growth. Results do not depend on fate and unexpected changes in the market. The data obtained through analysis will help to adjust the processes, ensuring a stable flow of applications, and confidence in the future.
What Entrepreneurs Should Know
- Reasons for rejection of potential customers.
- The level of training of the specialists.
- The quality of communication with customers.
- The impact and potential of individual areas.
- The number of paid applications.
- Plan for optimizing advertising campaigns.
- Growth points and bottlenecks to reduce costs.
- Competitive Advantages for Development.
Conclusion
Put your fears aside and use the power of analytics to increase the company’s profits, save time, and move your business to the next level. There are several tools available today to handle a large amount of data. Remember, the first signal of business growth demands for professional analysts.
