Big Data Analytics for Small Businesses

Rather than maintaining the trend of simply discussing Big Data principles as they relate to large companies and organizations, Forbes’ “Big Data Analytics: Not Just for Big Business Anymore” explores how smaller business can apply the tools of the information age in order to improve their sales.  The suggestions provided are well laid out, and clear examples are given so that that reader can easily grasp the scope of possibility; the article suggests that in order to effectively utilize Big Data, small businesses must first “become full participants in the digital universe”, “present accurate information about [their] product and services to the customers online”, and utilize analytics to “provide important insights into who the customers are, their interests, and their ‘hangout spots’” online.

I have to say that the article really furthered my excitement about Big Data as a whole. Ultimately, it suggests that not just sales are trackable through technology, but the whims and desires of consumers as well, opening a whole new science of business optimization. Through the above-mentioned information gathering techniques, companies can the utilize Big Data to more accurately tailor their services to customer wants and needs. I would love to see more on the topic discussing the possibility for market prediction based on prior and present information being collected from product searches and Facebook likes.

I think that Big Data also represents a new level of competition between big and small business. Big businesses have massive resources at their disposal in order sift through huge amounts of information, whereas small businesses have to very quickly calibrate against the background noise of information to get to the heart of what they need almost immediately. To this end, I can see companies being formed strictly to help small business get in on Big Data. It’s very exciting being in a time when producers and consumers are communicating and optimizing almost as fast as the market changes.