How to maximise the potential of big data for MSMEs businesses?

Let's start with Walmart as an illustration of a business that has successfully employed big data to enhance its supply chain. Walmart can forecast consumer demand and improve its inventory management procedures by employing data analytics to track weather patterns, traffic, and social media trends. As a result, the company has been able to improve on-shelf availability and decrease stockouts, which has increased sales and customer satisfaction. Data can be used by small businesses to obtain comparable outcomes.

These companies also have access to a variety of sources that may be used to collect data for analysis, such as email marketing reports, sales receipts, social media analytics, website analytics, streaming data from connected devices, publicly accessible data, and data lakes. 

Small firms may use data analytics to make better decisions, understand consumer behavior's, and ultimately increase performance and profitability by utilizing various data sources. Big data can also assist small firms in streamlining their support and customer care procedures. Companies can identify customer pain areas and proactively solve them by evaluating customer interactions across a variety of media. This can increase client loyalty and lessen customer churn.

Big data has the power to drastically change how small businesses operate and compete in the data-driven, fast-paced economy of today. The potential benefits of executing a big data strategy outweigh the expenses even though there are some obstacles to overcome, such as the requirement for specialized infrastructure and skills. As a result, small businesses who make investments in big data now are likely to see substantial returns later on.

MSMEs presently make up 6.11 percent of manufacturing GDP and 24.63 percent of India's GDP from services. The Indian MSME Ministry has set a goal to raise this GDP contribution to 50% by 2025 in order to help the nation reach its $5 trillion economic growth goal. 

Entrepreneurs must recognize and take use of the commercial potential of the data they already have in order to realize this ambition. Big data helps MSMEs examine more data faster and more accurately than a team of people could do. It’s important to keep in mind competitors can also use big data to gain insights about a business. That’s why it’s crucial to prioritise investment in big data and stay informed about the latest technologies. 

Although it’s impossible to prevent competitors from accessing business information through public sources, utilizing big data offers a competitive edge and safeguards data. Despite business owners believing they lack the time to monitor analytics, learning how to use data to gain a competitive advantage only takes a few moments of study. 

In fact, many businesses may already have enough information to start a big-data initiative without even realizing it. These businesses generate enough information to use big-data systems, including spreadsheets, databases and customer relationship management tools. In addition to real-time analytics dashboards, there are many big-data tools available for small businesses.

Big Data