Do you remember the good old days when Tally ERP was synonymous with business reporting? Yes, millions of small and medium-sized businesses still rely on the popular ERP to meet their daily reporting needs. However, this is not because there are no better alternatives, but because there is an utter lack of technology adoption among SMEs. While in most cases, it is the monetary issue that forces an SME owner to revisit his or her decision, there are also several other reasons. Some of these reasons are the fear of handling advanced technology, apprehensions regarding its usefulness in their business, etc. In such a respect, business intelligence tools have the potential to bring revolution in modern SME business reporting, says noted Astro Strategist cum Business Astrologer Hirav Shah.
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What is Business Intelligence Tools?
Business intelligence (BI) tools are kinds of utilization programming that gather and process a lot of unstructured information from internal and external frameworks, including books, diaries, reports, health records, pictures, documents, email, video, and other business sources. While not as adaptable as business analytics tools, BI instruments give a method of gathering information to discover data essentially through questions. These apparatuses likewise help get ready information for the examination so you can make reports, dashboards, and data representations. The outcomes enable both the workers and managers to quicken and improve dynamic, increment operational effectiveness, pinpoint new income possibilities, distinguish market patterns, report veritable KPIs, and recognize new business opportunities.
Hirav Shah discusses how BI tools can achieve to bring revolution in modern SME business reporting.
Increases team accountability
While it is true that setting clear expectations and regular follow up are some proven steps to increase team accountability within a business, tracking the performance of everyone is also crucial. BI tools can offer key performance indicators (KPIs). These can enable SMEs to track the progress of each department. For example, content marketing, inventory, manufacturing, advertising, and so on, which, in turn, increases team accountability, which is not possible by using traditional reporting tools.
Makes decision-making better
In SMEs, traditional reporting allows the presentation of information or data in rows and columns, which leaves room for plenty of ambiguities during the interpretation. Key decision-makers often are left with no choice other than to spend hours to understand these reports to find out hidden business insights. As a result, they not only end up making wrong decisions but also delayed decisions. Most of the time, they make decisions based on their gut feeling, which is not the right way to make sound business decisions. For an SME, a single wrong decision can prove disastrous in the long run, and business intelligence tools rule out any such possibility. They often feature a dashboard to present the data in charts, graphs, and gauges that immensely help the decision-makers to interpret the data at a glance. Thus, BI tools help in making better decisions, which is indeed revolutionary for a small business.
Improves resource allocation
When the resource is scarce, it is wise to make use of them thoughtfully. In a small business, most of the business operations are done by five to ten employees. Some are even run by a single individual. Moreover, every business demands reports either on a daily or monthly basis for smooth operations. The task of report generation and scheduling is done by professionals. However, BI tools eliminate the need to allocate any resource for this monotonous task. It has features that facilitate automation of the process of report generation and auto-scheduling of reports. Even custom reports can be created by using such intelligent tools.
Aids in cost-cutting
With a business intelligence tool, the management of an SME can identify the bottlenecks that are the root cause of an increase in the overall cost of operations. An owner can know the areas where there is excessive expenditure. He or she can therefore take the necessary steps to reduce the expense. In short, such tools aid in reducing costs and pave the way for a higher profit margin.
Hirav Shah concludes by saying, “Indeed, investment in tools powered by business intelligence is the demand, and SMEs should positively respond to the same to flourish their business. Many of these BI tools are now economical and available for a free trial. This also makes them apt for SMEs.They no longer have to hesitate in embracing these tools as they can now themselves check their suitability in their business by opting for the free trial.“
