Making Sense of and Using Big Data

Businesses are collecting more data as well as having access to unprecedented amounts of data from other sources. This has led to technological revolutions such as data warehousing and big data tools and technologies. This data holds useful information and patterns that can help businesses and firms to achieve their goals and improve their operations.

However, making sense of all this data and using it meaningfully can be a challenge given its sheer volume. To leverage this data, firms are increasingly turning to various models to meet various objectives like optimization and prediction. The insight that can be drawn from these models, as well as business-related benefits, is what is driving more and more firms to seek ways of making sense and using the available data.

Motivation for leveraging big data and large datasets

Depending on the firm’s objectives, large datasets and big data can be used to meet various objectives. One company may be interested in streamlining and increasing the efficiency of the supply chain. A manufacturing firm can use demand optimization in manufacturing for increased sales and profits. A retail chain may be seeking ways to optimize the use of shelf space to maximize profits. There are as many uses of big data and large datasets as there are good ideas on how to leverage them.

Various technologies, methodologies and approaches are being used in order to leverage big data including the following:

• Conventional Business Intelligence (BI) tools and technologies

• Integrated business planning (IBP)

• Predictive analysis

• Prescriptive analysis

• Demand optimization

Conventional Business Intelligence tools use the data available to firms to examine data and determine what has happened in the past, also known as descriptive analytics. Some of the technologies used are data mining and data aggregation.

Predictive analysis attempt to predict future scenarios to determine what could happen based on models and available data. Some of the techniques used are forecast techniques and statistical math models.

Prescriptive analysis provides management with actionable information on what should be done under various scenarios. Some of the technologies used are simulations and optimization. Applications include scheduling, planning and demand optimization.

Integrated Business Planning (IBP) aligns strategic plans with operation plans harmonizing strategy and execution. IBP seeks to connect planning functions in all departments of a firm to more efficiently align strategy and operations with financial performance.

Understanding Demand Optimization

Demand optimization seeks to utilize the available resources and processes to maximize sales volumes, revenue and profits. Some of the applications of demand optimization are determining optimal solutions for:

• Meeting market share objectives

• Meeting inventory goals

• Achieving gross margin targets

• Achieving desired sales

• Demand optimization in manufacturing

Demand optimization is being applied in more fields and industries. Like most high tech and highly competitive industries, manufacturing firms have been quick to adopt the technique for increased competitive advantage.

Manufacturing firms face complex supply and demand issues involving numerous variables. These variables impact on the products as well as the business as they affect quality, profitability and yields. Some of the supply side variables management has to take into consideration include:

• Production capability and capacity constraints

• Availability of inputs and raw materials

• Multiple production and assembly sites

Demand variables that affect decision making and business outcomes for manufacturing firms are:

• Sales projections

• Promotions and marketing

• Historical orders

• In-house orders

• Contract obligations

By leveraging IBP, analytics and demand optimization, businesses not only increase profitability but also serve customers better. This is result of creating better synergy between various departments like production, marketing, sales and distribution to meet organizational objectives.

How Good Business Practices Can Help You Improve Your Golf Game

In this busy age, effective time management is critical for business. Just as with work, so too with play. An avid and competitive golf player, I’ve come to learn how proper time management can also help you improve your golf game. Using your time before a round just a little more effectively can lower your scores without any additional practice.

The first tee mulligan is not permitted under the rules of golf, but is used by a large percentage of recreational golfers. Stiff from the drive to the course, or from a bad night’s sleep, golfers start to play stiff and unfocused. Their first shot is wasted and the entire round starts badly.

Poor early play is the result of poor time management. Too many rounds of golf begin with players pulling into the lot and dashing into the clubhouse minutes ahead of their tee time. There, they tap their feet nervously as they wait for the checkout, then rush back to the cart and, from there, on to the first tee. There is no time for stretching, no time for visiting the putting green, no time to hit a bucket of balls on the practice tee. All that is there for the players is tension and stiffness.

With proper time management, players should schedule their alarms to give themselves plenty of time before a round. A player should arrive at least half an hour before the scheduled tee time. In an ideal world, arriving 45 minutes early would be even better. That will leave you with the time to be properly prepared.

Upon arriving at the course, take the time to check and double check the contents of your bag to ensure you have everything you might require.  Nothing can create more tension than having to dash back to the car just before teeing off to get something you forgot.

Stretching is good use of time...

  

Once you have paid your greens fee, take a few minutes to stretch. Whether it is a morning round, or one after a day of work, your body will not be ready for the rotation needed to create an effective golf swing. Your bed and your office chair are the enemies of the golf swing. Even the drive to the course in those bucket seats will work against you. Stretching is time worth spending.

There are a large number of resources in golf magazines, books and on the Internet on golf stretching routines, so there is no need to detail them here. Suffice it to say that you can do some very effective stretching exercises with just the tools in your golf bag particularly your clubs and your bag. You might even want to toss a small and lightweight latex stretching band in your bag.

After stretching, hit a small bucket of balls to loosen up. Make loosening up your only goal. Trying to fix your swing faults before a round will only mess up your game later. Try to get your feel grooved. Work on your rhythm. Be sure to rotate properly. Start with the short irons and work your way up to driver. Try half swings, then move on to full ones. Don’t swing violently; you risk hurting yourself. Similarly, don’t try for distance; you risk losing your rhythm. You want to use this time to develop a flow.

Stop at the putting green...

Next, stop at the putting green. On most courses, the speeds on the putting green are indicative of the speed on the playing greens. Do not worry about getting the ball in the hole. You will not learn anything about any one hole’s breaks on the practice green. Instead, just try to get it close. Imagine a two-foot circle around the hole and try to get the ball inside the circumference.

The goal of your time on the putting green is to develop a feel for the speed of the greens. If you can get your ball inside “gimmie” range from a variety of distances on the practice putting green, you will be more relaxed and confident when you get to the real thing.

Finally, as you get set to tee off, talk to the starter. Often the starter has valuable information as to course conditions. In particular, ask about hole locations. He should be able to tell you in what zone of the greens the pins are located. This is really useful information on those visually deceptive holes. Knowing flag locations will keep you from leaving a ball short, or going long.

If you follow these tips to manage your time before a round, you are guaranteed to play better golf.  You’ll be relaxed, loose, confident and informed.

Essential Do’s and Don’ts for Building A Successful Business

It takes a lot of work in today’s economy in order for a business to succeed. There are many do’s and don’ts that can help (or hinder) the growth and acceptance of a newly launched business. Here’s a few do's and don'ts to help you avoid early mistakes and lead you to a prosperous venture.

The DO’s

SAY HELLO TO A FRUGAL LIFESTYLE:  The first step for an entrepreneur to take is to immediately start living a frugal lifestyle. Starting up a business requires capital. An entrepreneur who wishes to avoid taking out loans will need to build up their own funding. Living an economic lifestyle means cutting down on luxuries and learning how to eliminate unnecessary expenses.

KNOW THE INDUSTRY: Before an entrepreneur jumps into their own business, they will want to learn exactly how it operates. This means that they should take up employment at a similar business where they can build up experience.

WORK TO YOUR STRENGTHS: Successful entrepreneurs have created prosperous businesses because they worked to their own strengths. It is difficult to learn a whole new trade from scratch, so magnates should make it easy on themselves and work with what they already know. This provides an advantage over competitors. If they build up their own talents, entrepreneurs can outperform others in their industry by utilizing their expertise.

SUB-CONTRACT: This is more applicable towards businesses that are manufacturing a product. Hiring out low-cost subcontractors will allow businesses to create a high quality product that is manufactured by professionals. It also divides up the labor so that other parts of the company can focus on different aspects. For example, entrepreneurs can have one team dedicated to manufacturing while the rest of the workers focus on sales and marketing.

TEST AND ADJUST: Testing a product is the next step to be completed before the business expands. One way is to sample the product or service to a small audience and seeing how it is received. Any feedback can be used to determine what the next step should be. If there are improvements needed, then the product can be re-worked. If the is met with approval, then it’s time to look into expansion.

HAVE A  PLAN TO GET THE WORD OUT: Plan marketing and communications to let people know that your services or products exist. You cannot assume that people will automatically flock to you. There are simple and cost effective ways you can build your marketing in the early days, check out MarketingSuccess Tips for Startup Budgets. Networking will also help businesses acquire powerful business relationships. These can be advantageous in the long run when further expansion or mergers are possible.

The DON’TS 

DON’T GIVE UP YOUR DAY JOB: It is important to never leave a stable job until the startup is completed. Many people have found themselves in financially awkward situations because they left a secure job to pursue a business venture before they even had a plan. While it is good to take risks, these need to be tactical risks. Quitting a job without a safety net is unwise and highly discouraged.
DON’T MAKE IT ALL ABOUT MONEY: Another mistake made by some entrepreneurs is that they do not carefully consider what business they are about to go into. Don’t make your business idea all about the money. Of course, it is not a bad idea to aim for a prosperous market, but entrepreneurs do not want to get stuck in a business that they do not enjoy. Running a business should be as much enjoyable as it is profitable.
DON’T RISK IT ALL: Any risks taken should be calculated risks. This means that entrepreneurs should never risk entire assets. Many unfortunate business owners have made a crucial error that left them with little money after their startups failed. Starting a business is risky and one should always have a safety net in case something was to happen.
DON’T GO HIGH RISK: Entrepreneurs should not try to champion the most difficult industry for their first business venture. It is okay to start small and work upwards. That way, you don’t have to invest too much capital. When you start small, you are leaving the rest of the field open for improvement. Once you have secured a stable startup, then you can begin to grow and scale your success.

Types of Small Business Grants, Loans and Funding for Entrepreneurs

Small businesses have various options when it comes to looking for money to support their startup and growth objectives. Once you've run out of 'friends, families and fools' to invest in your vision, you can look to extended funding opportunities that best fit your needs.

Here are some potential financing options and a quick overview to how they work:

• Repayable funding: This is funding where money is awarded to an entrepreneur with the intention of repaying it out of the revenues in future. Incase the value of the project is recognized to be reducing, then the grant is written off.

• Direct funding: With direct funding, cash is given out for activities such as training, employment or capital investments schemes so as to give back to the society. This type of funding requires the recipient to combine it with other funds they may have of up to 50%. Therefore, these funds help a lot in complementing any other source of money entrepreneurs may have such as loans.

• Equity grant: Under this type of program a sum of money is used to put up a business and the grant lender takes an equal share of the revenues, and if the business value increases the stake can then be returned. Equity finance lenders are also less demanding.

• Soft loans: These are special types of loans with much generous terms and conditions than other funding options, thus the word ‘soft’. Soft loans for instance, may have no interest to pay at all and if there is, the interest rates may be less and the repayment period could be long.                                                                   

Funding can be critical to the success of starting or growing a small business. The key is to be realistic about the short and long term goals as well as the increased business potential with funding in place. This way you can align the best possible funding solution that fits your needs and repayment terms.

Often small businesses need more than funding to be a success. Accelerators and Incubators can provide different levels of direct and indirect assistance through experienced advisors to help entrepreneurs get their businesses on track. For more on how Business Accelerators vs. Business Incubators can contribute to start up growth, check out How to Accelerate Business Success.

How to Think your Pitch Strategy

I recently read 'Pitch Anything' by Oren Klaff, whose impressive credentials in the business world include raising more than $400 million.  A highly recommended read that will make you look at pitching in a whole new way.

The thing that came to mind, as I was absorbed and fascinated by the methods he shares, was – you’ve got to have some real guts to take this on.  There are persuasive, quick thinking and on the spot tactics that come in to play, and that he describes brilliantly.

Which got me to thinking that how to pitch anything really starts with first having guts.  But what does having guts look like? Learning to get comfortable with presenting with guts means being able to take control and influence your outcome with a calm assertiveness. I broke it down to mastering the following key criteria:

Be Bold

It is not a congeniality contest. The goal is not to be nice and get people to like you. Know what you came in the room to do and present yourself and your pitch with conviction. Keep an unerring focus on the prize – i.e. leaving with what you came to achieve. And be compelling and clear when asking for what you want and why you should get it.

Be In Control of the Room

When you walk in to the room very quickly assess the interaction between key players. Stay attentive to their body language and actions during the presentation so that you can hold their interest in your pitch. At any point that you feel you are losing ground, don’t show that you are thrown off course. Take a couple of seconds if you need to and come back with something compelling to reengage. It requires thinking on your feet, which you need to get good at.

Stand Your Ground, Calmly

This does not mean that you ignore or not welcome feedback. It means being able to handle feedback with calm and confidence. Also, not allowing yourself to get thrown off your pitch or led into a direction that gets you off track from your goals. It goes back to maintaining control - first of you and, in turn, of the room.  Take a quick moment to collect your thoughts and reclaim your focus.

For an outstanding approach that breaks down dynamic methods for pitching in any situation, pick up a copy of Klaff’s book 'Pitch Anything.' It will help you think your pitch strategy at a whole different level; and get you used to presenting yourself a winner – and winning!

10 Tips for LinkedIn Business Growth

Many companies sign up for a LinkedIn presence but then do nothing to optimize or utilize it. Yet, LinkedIn can go a long way toward bringing in new leads and sales, and ultimately toward boosting the company’s sphere of influence, depending on the business and how willing it is to invest in LinkedIn as a viable resource for strategic growth. 

Simply setting up a LinkedIn page gets you nowhere. You have to strategize, and you have to be diligent to tap in to the immense potential for business development.

Here are 10 tips that can help you invest your time and efforts for growth.

1.     START OFF COMPLETE

Before you begin to promote your LinkedIn page, you need to make sure you have something that’s actually worth promoting. That means taking the time to complete the profile, ensuring that you provide thorough and detailed information about your company. Ensure that there is a professional-quality photograph or image, as well, because good visual branding increases consumer trust.

2.     DOUBLE UP PROFILES

Create both a personal page and a company one. Whether you’re the CEO of the company or simply a consultant, you need to have your own page through which you can project individual authority—but of course, a company page is also vital. Make sure that your company page includes all pertinent data about the business, including the number of employees you have.

3.     PROMOTE THE COMPANY PAGE

If you’re going to be really investing in using this page as a tool for online branding and business development—which you should—then it helps to take the time to let people know it’s there. Include a link to it on your company website and on your Facebook page, and also in e-mail signatures and on business cards.

4.     BUILD YOUR NETWORK

LinkedIn will automatically recommend people for you to add to your network, simply based on the content you already have in your profile. The more connections you build, the more your customers and potential customers will see that you’re reputable and authoritative. Regularly search for contacts, import contacts from your e-mail address book, and use the recommendations that LinkedIn offers.

The contacts should not all be from the same industry. Let’s say that you own an advertising firm, you want to have connections from within the world of advertising, but you also want to have connections with realtors, and lawyers, and small business owners who might need advertising services. You’re not doing your company any favors by remaining within a small bubble.

5.     JOIN GROUPS

Join groups with high numbers of participants, and ensure that you’re in groups that are both directly and tangentially related to what your own profession is, for maximum impact.

6.     GET RECOMMENDATIONS

A recommendation is one of the best things you can get for engendering trust and goodwill from potential customers and clients. As such, it is very much worthwhile for companies and professionals to actively solicit recommendations from customers who are satisfied with the work done or the product provided.

7.     SEEK OUT AND CONNECT

Use the platform’s search feature to seek out people to connect with. Looking for a new employee? Don’t wait for him or her to find you. Search for someone who fits your job description and send a personalized request to connect. LinkedIn’s search tool is extremely effective, so use it!

8.     INCREASE PRODCUTIVITY WITH THE MOBILE APP

Business professionals can increase their productivity by using the mobile app. Access LinkedIn while you’re riding the subway, waiting for an appointment, or taking your lunch break. Approve new connections and take care of other housecleaning items during your down time.

9.     MAKE REGULAR UPDATES

Regular status updates can make any LinkedIn page more effective, and a good way to increase those status updates, fairly easily, is to tie in the company Twitter account. Integrating these two social platforms is a great way to really get more bang for your buck, in terms of those updates you’re writing.

10.   INCORPORATE THE COMPANY BLOG

As of fairly recently, LinkedIn has produced a way to automatically feature blog updates (you can manually enter them, as well). Make sure your company blog is linked from your profile page, perhaps with an attention-getting and descriptive title to keep your latest messaging and updates in front of your key business contacts.