Introduction
Why do you think business executives earn more than others? Do you think it is because they work more? Business executives earn more because a single decision from them can make or mar the business. Think of them as the head in the body; once the head is bad, the human being is good as useless. Business Data analysis helps business executives, managers, and analysts scientifically analyse data to make strategic decisions, solve complex problems, etc.
What is Data?
Data is simply a raw fact or information. Data are basically of two types. They can be qualitative and quantitative.
Qualitative data are observable but cannot be calculated. They include human traits like integrity, honesty, and so on.
Quantitative data is the direct opposite of qualitative data. Unlike qualitative data, they can be observed and calculated. A great example of quantitative data is the number of staff on a company’s payroll. Assuming a company wants to start the manufacturing of children toy, what kind of data do you think it will collate? It will collate demography data as this will enable it to know the age range of children in the city and subsequently predict production volume, sales, and profit.
Stages of the Data Analysis Process.
Analysing data to make a wise decision is no mean feat. It consists primarily of five stages which are data requirement gathering, collection, cleaning, analysis, interpretation and visualisation. At the data requirement stage, you decide what you need the data for. For example, is it to measure the customers’ perspective on your company’s product or to decide whether to expand operation overseas? This will enable you to know the kind of data to gather. At the data collection stage, you go directly to the data sources to gather the sort of data you want. At the data cleaning stage, you separate the irrelevant data from the relevant ones. At the data analysis stage, you analyse the relevant data to make the right decision. This is not a very hard nut to crack as there are excellent softwares that can correctly analyse whatever data you come up with. At the data interpretation stage, you choose to explain the product of your analysis either through words, pie or chart. Finally, at the data visualisation stage, you present the data in an easy to comprehend way. At this stage, everyone from the CEO to the janitor should be able to understand the data.
Benefits of data analysis to the business.
One of the most significant benefits of data analysis to businesses is that it helps in predicting market trends and development. This will enable businesses to come with products and services to meet the current trend. Data analysis allows a business to ascertain and manage risks involved in whatever decision they want to take. In the long run, this will enable businesses to make well-informed decisions.
Conclusion.
We live in a data-driven world. Businesses must take advantage of this fact to churn out product and services that customers need and are willing to pay for. As said earlier, a single wrong decision can be the clog in the wheel of your business’s progress. In the same vein, a single intelligent decision can turn things around like a magic wand. No matter how seemingly inconsequential the decision may be, it must be driven by well-analysed data.
