Small Business Intelligence: Think BI(g)

Over the past few months we've talked about many facets of BI, from the data life-cycle to how people consume data. We've discussed BI concepts and will continue to do so. But what if you're an entrepreneur just starting out? If you read this blog you must be thinking, "this is all well and good for someone who's got money to spend on software and hardware, but I'm bootstrapping here! Come on!" OK, so maybe you can't start at the top. But you can start thinking in strategic business intelligence terms from Day One. How? The key is your business plan.

A well-crafted business plan answers critical questions about how you believe your business will be successful, including (not necessarily in this order):

What does the market need?
Who in the market needs it?
What makes me uniquely suited to meet the need?
How am I going to meet the need?
How am I going to find all those needy people? (or, how are they going to find me?)

and, of course...
How am I going to make this pay?

Just from that list you have the beginnings of your business intelligence strategy. What does the market need? A product or service. Who needs it? Customers. How will I find the customers and meet their needs? Through advertising and distribution channels. And how will I know if it's paying off? By measuring key metrics like revenue, operating profit, and cash flow against the financial plan spreadsheets I used to secure funding from the bank (or from Uncle Anton).

So, are you ready to begin?

In looking at accounting packages, find out if the one you're interested in has an export capability. That way, if your package doesn't have the reporting and analysis capabilities you want you can export to Excel and set up your own analysis. If you're using an e-commerce shopping cart, find out if it can export data. Between these options you should be able to get Customer and Product information, as well as key financial data. Especially starting out, those are the two key dimensions. (Don't know what a dimension is? Forget? For a quick review check out the articles on processing data, Parts One and Two.) If you're working with an accountant or bookkeeper, he or she may be able to help you get set up.

Even if you don't have a lot of money to spend it's never too early to start thinking BI(g).