By Naren Vijay
Technology for MSMEs: Effective data analysis can become a competitive advantage for any business with the right insights and deployment. Contrary to popular perception, establishing a compelling data universe is not only relevant to large-scale firms but also to small and medium-sized companies. They can also take advantage of the potential of various capabilities of business intelligence for enhanced business competitiveness.
Business Intelligence (BI) refers to the application of technology, strategies, and practices that make way for collecting, analysing, incorporating, and displaying business information that allows a company to have better decision-making in the business.
Business intelligence can help MSMEs reduce risk by better information on the expected demand cycle, customer feedback, and gaps in the market. According to a report by 360Suite, the global BI adoption rate stands at 26%. A 2019 report by Grand View Research claims that 46% of small businesses use business intelligence features like virtual networking as an integral part of their business strategy.
The primary role of BI is to extract critical insights from a mountain of data and convert them into actionable business information. Small and medium-sized companies can utilise this data to make strategic decisions, improve operational efficiency, and boost productivity.
Small and medium-sized businesses operate on a tight budget, so there is little scope for slip-ups and expensive buys. Opting for a robust business intelligence platform is critical for an MSME’s success that helps generate actionable insights.
Here is how business intelligence can improve the performance of an MSME Business:
– Increased cost-efficiency
Business intelligence helps a business discover the spend optimisation and allocation. With a clear picture of department-wise spending, a business can find the areas where it can save on costs. In other words, a company can spend the available resources effectively in the early stage of the business using business intelligence.
– Better revenue management in less time
As most MSMEs are running against time in the early stage of the business, a business intelligence platform allows for a better analysis of the time spent on each activity. These derived insights help increase revenue and meet deadlines.
– Streamlines daily operations
Many MSMEs choose to cut corners or make decisions hastily without a BI platform. With the right insights, an MSME can streamline business operations and discover sources to increase the revenue and profitability of the business.
– Better customer experience
Irrespective of the industry, an MSME business can improve the customer experience using technologies like predictive intelligence. Automated insights generated using a BI platform can help improve customer experience and satisfaction scores.
– Competitor analysis
A robust BI platform can help businesses decode competitor strategies and improve product intelligence. It helps keep a tab on the industry trends and actions of the competition.
How to begin the business intelligence journey?
An MSME business can reduce the time, effort, and resources involved in operations with the right business intelligence platform. Innovative MSMEs use business intelligence to gain maximum traction and win more significant market share in a competitive landscape. Entrepreneurs can use business intelligence to ascertain the best possible roadmap to building a profitable company without wasting resources on guesswork.
Naren Vijay is EVP of Growth at Lumenore. Views expressed are the author’s own.
