Big Data is Not Just for Big Companies

Think the big data movement is reserved for the creation of recommendation engines for mammoth companies like Amazon and Netflix? Think again. Even small businesses can find an increase in efficiency and sales by properly collecting, storing and accessing pertinent data.

 

Speaking to Forbes for an article, Steve King of Emergent Research provided a perfect example of what a small business can do with big data: He discussed The Spillers Group, a small company that owns three restaurants in Dallas. It uses a data application to share business information it collects with its management team. Among the data it tracks: point-of-sale data, labor metrics and accounting numbers.

 

“Before their data was a hodgepodge,” King told Forbes. “They had sales data in one place, supply data in another place and staffing data in another—and they never looked at how to bring them all together. So they were inefficient when it came to scheduling and supplies. When they brought the data together they discovered quickly they could cut costs by making minor changes. That’s a huge win.”

 

The app allowed The Spillers Group to cut labor costs by 10 percent and link managers’ pay to their restaurant’s performance.

 

Other small business benefits from this business intelligence gain, according to the Forbes article, include:
 

• Improve pricing and just-in-time supply chains.
• Find cheaper suppliers that are closer to their location.
• Use data to tailor products and services to individual customers, resulting in more loyal customers and higher sales.
• Identify key customers and treat them better.

 

SD3 Corporation can help with this business intelligence process by collecting your data from source content areas, transform it into the most useful data possible for later consumption and then deliver it in meaningful ways. Contact SD3 to learn how.

 

Tags: big data, business intelligence, mobile app development

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