How Can Small Businesses Use Data Science to Grow Their Business

Today, with advanced technology, the Internet of Things, and AI, all tasks became much simpler and easier to complete. Data science plays a crucial role nowadays, and it’s present all around us, including numerous companies. We’re all familiar with how big enterprises and important companies implemented data science, but not many small businesses realize that data science can help them.

Changing the entire running system and hiring someone with a PGP in Data Science may seem expensive at first, so that’s the main reason why smaller businesses give up on the idea. However, investing in quality programs will get the business so much in return that usually it only takes 3-4 months to get all that money back.

So, here are five ways how small businesses can use data science to grow their business.

Prediction

With specially designed software, data science can predict various events that can improve or harm the business. While bigger companies can get away with these easier, small businesses must avoid as many harmful events as possible that can hurt the business.

So, data science considers all previous mistakes, predicts when they’re likely to happen again, and calculates the ways of avoiding them.

Another essential feature of prediction is the price. Predicting when to increase or decrease the current price and balancing between the two is the core skill of any business owner. With data science, you no longer need to do this independently, as the software predicts the perfect time to make price alternations. 

With this, you’ll know when you can profit more by upping the price or when it’s time to lower the cost and sell more in quantity, which maintains the competitive advantage over other similar companies.

Decision-Making

For every business owner, there comes a time where they must face crossroads. Choosing a particular path isn’t easy, as no one knows which option is better in the long run. So, this is where data science comes into the spotlight.

By evaluating and weighing all previous and current events, the software can calculate whether something similar happened in the past and how it was handled.

However, it also considers the current situation. It makes a well-calculated decision to help any business owner who has a hard time figuring out the best thing to do.

With more events and richer history, data science software only becomes more informed and precise, making it even better as time goes by.

Management

Management is one of the most crucial company features. It doesn’t matter how excellent your service or product is; people won’t race to spend their money on your brand if the management isn’t good. Data science can help you manage the entire company, whether you’re running an enterprise or a local business.

It calculates how the business is running and finds ways to make it more efficient. From working hours to product development, data science can lead to numerous improvements in overall business management.

Personalization

With customers being the most valuable asset of any business, it’s crucial to take good care of them. This means taking care of your current customers while also seeking ways to attract new ones.

With data science, you can personalize each client’s purchase by suggesting products they will most likely buy. Data science does this by evaluating each purchase and pinpoints similarities between them. By observing customer’s behavior, data science can identify what each customer will like based on previous experiences.

This is great for smaller businesses, as it can increase revenue by predicting and selling more items. Additionally, customers love companies that offer them a unique experience rather than a uniform one.

Recruitment

Hiring new staff can be an exhausting process for every company, regardless of its size. For smaller companies, recruitment can be even more challenging because most of them don’t have an HR sector dealing only with this issue. Usually, business owners do this on their own, which can be an additional obligation requiring even more effort and time.

With data science, hiring new staff has never been easier. It evaluates each candidate and compares them in just a matter of seconds. Almost immediately, you get applications that fit the requirements the closest.

So, you get to quickly recruit new talents that’ll respond to the job position in the best possible way.

Conclusion

Although data science is usually associated with large companies with big profits, data science is accessible to everyone. Small and local businesses have countless benefits if using data science to assist them in running a business.

From basic business moves such as decision-making and management to personalizing each customer’s experience, data science covers every field and ensures the right steps are taken towards success.

Adam Hansen
 

Adam is a part time journalist, entrepreneur, investor and father.