How to use Business intelligence for Startups in 2022?

Business intelligence for Startups (BI), refers to the strategies and technology used by companies to gain actionable, data-driven insights. These insights are used to inform organizational strategic decisions.

Companies that don’t use BI strategies today will likely fall behind their competitors. While 85% of companies say they are trying to become data-driven, only 37% of them have succeeded.

Business Intelligence is the application of data to gain important information that helps make better choices for an organization. It is the process of implementing software to collect data, analyze, visualize and analyze data to provide practical information. Although it may sound like a huge word BI isn’t just for enterprises. Startups and small businesses can benefit from the technology to help grow their business with better choices.

There are certain concerns as a new business owner when you are implementing complicated instruments and dashboards. It’s easy to become overwhelmed with the cost as well as the staff and knowledge to implement them in an entrepreneur in the beginning. Yet, you can still reap the BI benefits if you choose the correct strategy.

Table of Contents

Here are some suggestions to assist with Business intelligence for Startups:
Top Business Intelligence for Startup Tools
How to use business intelligence in your company?
Four Ways to Use Business Intelligence for Startups
What are the benefits of Business intelligence for Startups?
Last words:

Here are some suggestions to assist with Business intelligence for Startups:

Use high-quality, important data

The amount of data produced by businesses can be large, and the amount can be huge even for a start-up. When you collect data, ensure that you choose only the most relevant and precise items of data. The collection of irrelevant data will increase the cost and load your team with additional tasks. Also, not focusing on accuracy implies that you can’t believe in your data or the conclusions you draw from it. It is equally crucial to store and organize every bit of information properly and securely. Startups frequently fail to take care of the business intelligence aspect and privacy breaches could cause troubles.

Stick to Simple BI Solutions

Although big names like Power BI and Tableau rule the world of business intelligence, however, they could be too difficult for your team of non-techies. Furthermore, they’re costly which means that making them work within your startup budget could be a hassle. Find more simple alternatives to the electricity bi to ensure that users will not be stumbling over getting used to the process. It is possible to sacrifice certain features and add-ons however, these options usually work for startups. Select the option that is best to your requirements and you’ll be able to cut costs and reduce complexity for your staff. This method can help to reduce the cost of training.

Prioritize Scalability

Consider scalability prior to choosing your BI software so that it expands with your company. A minimum viable method ensures you are in a good position. Start with the most basic elements that won’t stress your budget. At this point, it’s sensible to think in the immediate future. Keep in mind that the information you gather will expand in size over time. You might even anticipate that it will increase exponentially in the future. A tool that is scalable will keep your business up-to-date by making sure it is able to deal with and analyze the growing volume of data in time.

The last tip for entrepreneurs who are going BI is to stay clear of data silos. Even the most effective strategies and tools can fail if your business data is separated into various applications. The analysis can be incomplete and unorganized when you don’t have an accurate image of your data. An effective startup BI strategy requires an enormous amount of work and effort, but it will bring you one step further toward success. The earlier you start the more successful.

Top Business Intelligence for Startup Tools

Any area of your business that requires more transparency and clarity can use BI. How can you do this without sacrificing too much detail?

As with all tools you purchase for your business, you should focus your search on tools made for small businesses. These are more likely to suit your needs and budget better than those that require you to pay extra for features you don’t need. Accenture research also shows that 74% employees feel unhappy or overwhelmed when working with data. More than a third of respondents prefer to avoid data in order to complete tasks. Tools that make data analysis easier and provide key insights are essential. This overview will help you start your search for BI tools that are suitable for small businesses. Many of these tools can scale with your business, so you’ll be able to get the extra features as you grow.

1. Tableau

Tableau is a top provider in the BI market. This makes it a great choice for small and large businesses. It is easy to create dashboards and visualize data using this user-friendly tool. This makes it simple to find all the data you need and make quick decisions.

We like Tableau because it is flexible and powerful, but also intuitive. This makes Tableau ideal for small businesses that are implementing BI for their growth. Data visualization tools are particularly popular and well-received.

Pricing: Tableau has three pricing plans available for teams: Explorer $42 per month, Viewer $15 per month, and Creator $70 per month.

2. Take a look at

Looker, another great choice for small businesses, is an easy-to-use BI software and data analysis platform that allows companies to analyze, share and explore real-time analytics. You can create custom dashboards to make data visualizations and ensure that the right stakeholders have instant access to the most current data.

We like Looker’s user interface and features. They can be customized to deliver actionable data in any format that you prefer. You can choose the data that you see and how you want them to be presented.

Pricing: Looker offers a flexible pricing structure, so potential customers should get in touch with their team to receive a customized quote.

3. Cluvio

Cluvio is a BI tool designed for startups and small businesses. It makes it easy to analyze data and create interactive dashboards which can be shared with your entire team in just minutes. Cluvio allows your team to keep track of key KPIs and receive notifications based on conditions. You can also customize reports.

4. Domo

Domo a scalable BI/analytics platform allows you to combine data from multiple sources to visualize it all in a single place. This allows your team to quickly access data and gain data-driven insights to support a variety of business processes.

We like Domo’s ability to combine data from multiple sources and visualize it easily. It is able to handle large data sets without any problems, making data analysis easy for beginners.

5. Google Data Studio

Google Data Studio is a free platform that allows businesses to create custom dashboards and reports. This facilitates data visualization and reporting. It can connect with more than 300 data sources to bring you a quick overview of your business. We like Google Data Studio, which is a great alternative to the premium options we have listed. Pricing: Although it offers more basic features than the other tools on this list, Google Data Studio can be used for free. Integrate Google Data Studio with Google Analytics to visualize your website data. For tips on how to implement Google Analytics within your small business, check out the Duct Tape Marketing podcast episode.

What are the benefits of Business intelligence for startups

Data-Driven Business Choices

Fast reporting and accurate data will help you make better business decisions. Employees can make informed decisions that will have a positive effect on the company’s future by having access to current information.

Identifying Market trends

Startups can use business intelligence to find new opportunities and get a competitive advantage. This will have a direct impact on the company’s long-term financial viability. Employees can also use external market data to identify new sales trends, by analyzing customer data as well as market conditions.

Increased Customer Satisfaction

Startups can use business intelligence to better understand customer patterns and behaviors. Startups can also use the data they collect to identify buying patterns and provide better customer service.

Higher Revenue

Every startup wants to increase its revenue and not burn its budget. Any company can use business intelligence to identify financial opportunities and weaknesses. This information can help a company improve its services and operations, which will result in higher revenue and customer satisfaction.

Higher Operational Efficiency

The BI tools combine different data sets. This allows managers and employees to spend less time searching for information and more time delivering reliable, timely results. If employees have reliable and up-to-date statistics, they can reflect on their priorities and assess the effectiveness of their decisions.

Increased Employee Satisfaction

Employee satisfaction can be improved by using business intelligence. BI can be scaled to provide data solutions for departments that require it. Departments without access to their data can contact IT or analysts to get data access. Once they have access, they can begin data analysis.

Nowadays, there are numerous tools that can help you gather and analyze your company’s data. The first step is finding a tool that will automate the process of collecting and analyzing data. However, your company will also need to aggregate this data before you can draw any meaningful insights from it.

That’s when a business intelligence platform becomes essential for a startup business, as it will automatically gather data from multiple sources and display it in a comprehensible and useful format.

There are many business intelligence solutions available today that let small firms gather and interpret data from various sources. True “actionable” business intelligence enables startups to make decisions based on facts, cut costs where they are unneeded, and provide their customers with better products or services.

How to use business intelligence in your company?

Follow Performance

As the workforce has shifted to remote operations over the past year, performance tracking with business intelligence tools is more important than ever. BI tools allow you to track daily activities and also provide specific outcomes. This can be used to tell a story about your company’s productivity and performance.

Optimize Your Operations

Business intelligence can be used for optimizing operations. It can reduce process timelines, increase efficiency, and productivity, save money and allow employees to shift their focus towards higher-value work. It can reduce errors and provide more precise process assessments. Additionally, frequent reporting allows companies to react faster and work more agilely.

Increase sales, revenue, and profit

Even if BI is used in other ways, the ultimate goal of companies is still to use BI for business intelligence. In many ways, business intelligence is a key driver of overall profitability. It creates a centralized, objective data repository that is easily accessible and eliminates surprises at the end of each month. This allows companies to quickly identify and solve problems almost in real time. It also provides better data to forecast sales, which can be used to make better business decisions, such as goal setting and budgeting. BI can also function as a data-driven CRM system, showing companies which customers and leads are most valuable so that they can direct their efforts toward them.

Improve Marketing Strategy

Marketing teams can use business intelligence tools to get data about which campaigns are performing well, which content is performing the best, their target audiences, and overall engagement metrics.

Marketing teams can use BI for decision-making, such as where to spend more time and resources, what content to promote, and how to target those efforts. Data analytics are becoming more important to remain competitive, according to statistics.

Empower employees

Modern BI tools make data available to all employees, at all levels, and in every functional area. This capability can be leveraged by empowering employees to use data-driven strategies to become more proactive, informed, and strategic.

The objectivity of BI-powered information creates accountability at individual and group levels. This can be a motivator to look for new insights and opportunities from BI data.

Leadership can also benefit from fostering a data-driven culture within their organizations. Companies with more data power can gain more insight and achieve better results.

Four Ways to Use Business Intelligence for Startups

To stay ahead, smart companies adopt new technologies such as business intelligence. This allows them to take advantage of opportunities and quickly respond to threats.

According to Brisk Logic, data analysis can transform performance, increase revenue, and improve customer satisfaction. To achieve this, many companies use business Intelligence (BI) software. BI allows you to quickly and easily analyze company data, leading to better business decisions. Every day, companies generate a lot of data. These data include information about sales, marketing, and inventory, as well as finance. For business leaders, experience and intuition are often key factors in making decisions. It’s crucial to be able to use company data to make fact-based decisions and minimize human error. Companies can adapt to industry changes with fact-based decision-making. This is possible with a good BI solution.

Some BI vendors are focused on improving sales but a great vendor will offer a complete business solution.

1. Use BI to Increase Sales

BI has helped improve profit margins in thousands of manufacturing, distribution, and retail businesses. It allows you to identify areas where sales are performing well, and where improvements are needed.

Understanding what customers buy and what they don’t will allow you to feed your sales team opportunities. This will enable them to identify areas where they can increase profits with existing customers.

One study shows that selling to an existing customer is more likely than selling to a brand-new one. Use BI to engage and inspire your existing customers.

2. For more efficient inventory management

Stock can have a negative impact on your bottom line just as much as stock that is too small. A good BI solution will enable you to analyze your supply chain to ensure optimal inventory levels. It can also be used to identify seasonal changes and help you navigate them.

Here are some ways BI can help with inventory management.

Stock on hand

BI allows you to quickly and easily check how much stock you have for a specific product.

Measure Overstock

Compare historical sales data with stock on hand to determine if you have overstock. You can identify overstock if your historical data shows that you sell very few of a product, but have lots of it in stock.

Understock

This is when you are at risk of stocking too many items. This could cause problems in fulfilling customer orders.

Deadstock

Stock that has not been sold but is still on the shelves can lead to high costs. You can detect dead stock by using BI to compare stock on hand and units sold over the past year. It is possible to have excess stock in a product with very low market demand. BI allows you to quickly make data-driven decisions regarding reducing inventory bloat.

A company’s success depends on its stock management. Delivering products on time is key to securing sales. Customers will turn to your competition if you fail to deliver products on time.

3. For better financial management, use BI

BI simplifies the analysis of financial data. Financial statements are only one aspect of BI. A BI solution that integrates financial statements and real-time data analytics can help increase revenue and manage expenses.

Dashboards, graphs, and charts can help you better manage your company’s financial health by analyzing profit and loss (P&L), balances, and cash flow.

You can also use BI to solve the problem of managing rebates. It is now much simpler to manage what was once a complicated process. You can now eliminate the need for complicated spreadsheets and get a 360-degree view of your rebates.

4. Use BI to Free Up Your IT Department

An easy-to-use BI solution is a good one. You can easily create your own reports and drill down to the information you need. It’s easy to understand even for non-technical users.

This is a huge advantage for your IT department, who were traditionally the only ones who could run complex reports. Companies have more data, so IT departments are under greater pressure to produce faster reports.

Employees have full control over their data with self-service BI. You will find many training opportunities for BI solutions that are reliable.

IT departments can be more efficient and productive and contribute more effectively to the business.