Traditionally, employing Business intelligence (BI) required building data centers and recruiting teams of IT specialists. This is why it was considered the privilege of the big-chip corporations only. However, the times have changed. With the rise of the IT industry, the costs of sophisticated BI software have plummeted dramatically, making them affordable to cash-strapped startups and small businesses, as well. Precisely because of this, the BI and analytics market is predicted to grow up to $20 billion by 2019.
For the first time in history, it is possible for growing companies to harness the power of the most innovative BI tools to meet their business needs, keep track of their performance, and make data-driven decisions. 

Fast and Fruitful Data Analytics

Building a solid digital marketing strategy is not enough. To make the most of it, you need to analyze its effectiveness regularly. This is exactly when BI steps in. These tools are particularly beneficial for small businesses and startups. Namely, most of them cannot afford to hire full-time employees dedicated just to doing business analytics. On the contrary, they need to equip their current employees with adequate analytics software that will help them assess the effectiveness of their performance on their own. As these tools offer easily accessible, drag-and-drop dashboards, you won’t have to invest in extensive employee training or a complex data infrastructure. 

Customer Intelligence is your Crystal Ball

It is not only acquiring, but also maintaining a base of loyal customers that is crucial for your business growth. To make your customers satisfied, you need to know who they are and be able to predict their needs. By implementing customer intelligence tools, you will get invaluable insights into the past customer behavior and be able to estimate their buying patterns in the future. Of course, BI is not really a crystal ball.  It uses an algorithm that contextualizes your consumers’ past performance, reveals some trends that might otherwise go unnoticed, and tells you what works for your industry and what not. Based on the raw data you receive, you can do a thorough analysis and make rational decisions. 
Unsurprisingly, predictive analytics plays a fundamental role in the retail industry. Namely, retail companies collect and summarize massive amounts of customer data to predict the next purchasing trends, optimize their prices, and forecast the industry demand.

Perfect Customer Reports

As a business owner, there is nothing you appreciate more than beautifully arranged data. The same goes for your clients. However, collecting data from multiple resources, organizing them and creating detailed client reports is a daunting task. To make this process much faster, you should switch from manual analysis to automated client reporting solutions that offer real-time analysis and actionable insights presented in a neat format, as well as give you the opportunity to keep track of all important KPIs on a single online dashboard. 
You could also turn to data visualization software. With it, you can create compelling charts automatically, without spending hours on formatting and design. Most importantly, you will provide your clients with both thorough and visually appealing reposts.  

Improved Workplace Collaboration

For every business, effective communication between teams is the key to success. The implementation of Business Intelligence enables faster data transmission and effective data storage. Above all, it allows all your employees to share and access all files instantly, irrespective of where they are. Additionally, by moving your teams to the digital landscape, you will be able to recruit remote employees instead of hiring an in-house team of experts. This way, you will manage to save on roughly $11,000 per year.
 Whether you go with a traditional workplace or you turn to a work from home program, to boost collaboration, you need to invest in the adequate BI tools. For example, with business intelligence for telecommunications and cloud services, startups will not only manage to boost the overall collaboration, but also optimize their service levels, minimize their costs, and maximize their productivity.  

Conclusions

Given these facts, it’s obvious that investing in business intelligence is not optional anymore. It’s a must for all startups and small businesses that want to survive in such a competitive entrepreneurial landscape. By using BI for analytics, customer segmentation, knowledge management, client reporting, and workplace collaboration, you will manage to take your startup to a whole new level.