A Quick Guide for Startups: How to Use Data to Maximise Your Business Growth

The best-run companies are data-driven. Understand how to leverage data with a top Financial Analyst from The ROOM.

The World Economic Forum predicts that by 2025, worldwide internet users will create 463 exabytes of daily data, the equivalent of 463 billion gigabytes. That’s a lot of data to sift through and make sense of! However, having a good handle on relevant data is crucial for the growth of your business and the success of your company.

This ever-increasing amount of data requires people with the right skills who can make sense of it. For startups and small business owners, this specifically pertains to analysing large data sets and developing strategies that help you scale.

Many small business owners and entrepreneurs can attest that performing these growth-related tasks can be overwhelming when added to an already busy schedule. This is why more small business owners, startups, and entrepreneurs are hiring Financial Analysts (FAs) to make sense of this data and harness it to promote business growth.

In this article, you’ll learn how the right FA talent can use data to:

• Optimise the 5 Stages of Your Business Life Cycle  
• Track and Measure Performance
• Solve Problems and Improve Processes
• Promote Customer Transparency and Communication

With the right mindset, you will find that data is one of your biggest assets. The best-run companies are data-driven, and understanding how to leverage that data can help set your business apart. Here’s how.

Optimise Your Business Life Cycle 

As the Corporate Finance Institute tells us, there are five stages in the life cycle of each business. These stages are launch, growth, shake-out, maturity, and decline. 

Small businesses and startups in the launch stage can have slow sales with the hope that they will steadily increase. With the right financial analytics in place, you can maximise your chances of that increase to take you into the growth phase. During the shake-out phase, sales may lag due to market fluctuations, and during the decline phase, sales may drop off entirely. Your highly skilled FA may help your business anticipate and respond appropriately to these periods and avoid these lags in sales.

Track and Measure Performance

Professional sports teams employ dozens of data collectors and analysts that track and measure the performance of their players and coaches to make their teams better. As a startup, your FA can analyse data sets to help you improve company performance in every department. 

Collecting data and comparing it with organisational goals and industry standards can provide in-depth insight into your marketing efforts, operations, customer service, and sales figures. This performance data can then be turned into actionable items that help deliver better results for your investors and your customers, which in turn helps promote business growth.

Photo by Simplilearn

Solve Problems and Improve Processes 

All entrepreneurs have experienced a month where sales were lower than normal or a marketing campaign not performing as well as it should have. How do you pinpoint where the problem areas are? This is a job for your trained FA. 

By reviewing, analysing, and tracking data from your business processes, performance breakdowns and those performing well are discovered. From there, your FA can help you better understand the breakdowns and develop steps to fix them. Doing so repeatedly is how you can stay ahead of competitors while working towards scalability.

Promote Customer Transparency and Communication

Did you know? According to Shop Small with Amex, 62% of consumers prioritise “shopping small” in their neighbourhoods. And 72% would be even more interested in shopping at small brick-and-mortar businesses if they were offered special discounts or loyalty programmes.

According to the numbers, consumers generally want to support small businesses and startups like yours. A key component of this is full transparency and making customers feel heard. This communication doesn’t always have to exist on social media, although a quality FA should be able to give you valuable feedback on your social numbers as well. 

You can ensure that your loyal customers keep returning by having your FA measure data sets based on customer purchase journeys and email marketing campaigns. For instance, if your loyal customer takes advantage of a coupon for 15% off of a product one week but not the next, your FA can track this valuable information so you can communicate with the customer accordingly to keep them feeling special and coming back. 

Ready to Hire a World-Class Financial Analyst?

If you’re ready to see what a talented FA can do for your business, visit The ROOM to access a pool of world-class Financial Analysts. The ROOM is home to a highly specialised community of agile digital talent, connecting individuals and companies across the globe with the skills and resources they need to thrive in the new world of work.

When you’re in the market for expert financial support services, always hire analysts like ours who are certified through reputable institutions, such as Corporate Finance Institute. Take the burden off of the CFO or CEO and let your FA do the work required to help grow your business!