The Data Challenge for Tech Founders
This article was written by Helen Tanner, founder of the award-winning, Bristol-based, global data agency Data3. The have just launched myDATA3 which is an instant, all-in-one business dashboard tool designed for start-up founders.
Why I designed a data tool for start-up founders…because I am one
My Dad has been a SME business owner for as long as I remember. I saw how brutally hard it was to run a small business, with all the ups and downs, and the ever-so-personal triumphs and battles…so I ran like the wind and worked in the big, global, corporate world for 20 years!
It got to a point though, where I realised that I wasn’t motivated by helping big, global businesses to become even bigger and richer. That didn’t get me excited. It didn’t feel worthy of my time, energy, and the hours I put into every single thing I do. So, I realised, after a long time, that I was passionate about small businesses. Helping a start-up to become a scale-up. Helping a micro business to become a small business. And helping small businesses to become medium-sized businesses. That’s what I want to do. That’s what motivates me. We all know most small businesses fail…so how can I play a part to increase their chances of success? How can I make a difference?
Founding, launching & running a SME business is unbelievably hard. It takes long hours, huge commitment, the humility to make tons of mistakes yet keep going and requires you to be a confident and comfortable risk-taker. As well as keeping sane, healthy, and motivated, no matter what. You simply don’t have the resources, budget, cashflow or support to do what big businesses can do with little thought. Running a SME business is super hard at the best of times. And it was soooooo much harder during COVID. The world of business can feel uncertain and unpredictable anytime…during a pandemic, ‘uncertainty’ and ‘unpredictable’ are understatements. I get it…I was in the trenches with you too.
I launched Data3 in 2017. I’ve always been a grafter but getting from 2017 to 2021 has been so much harder than I ever could have possibly imagined. A rollercoaster ride. A battle of my own wills. A test of all my personal characteristics. A never-ending series of learnings and lessons. Big mistakes. Yet, in the last 4.5 years, my amazing team have delivered 70+ projects for 50+ SMEs in the UK. And I’m lucky enough to be able to trust, respect, count on, and have beers with my awesome team of data engineers, data architects, developers, BI experts, product gurus, marketers and sales types. As well as my, up until recently, unpaid gang of advisors giving me humble, generous and valuable counsel.
In this time, I’ve spoken to hundreds of SME business leaders. And EVERY single business has exactly the same problem – disconnected data, spread across multiple data sources, platforms and tools. And it’s all in a muddle requiring huge amounts of manual effort to untangle things and bring it together in a sensible way. So, EVERY business leader says the same thing – they are missing a single source of truth, or a single view of customer. Which means they are not confident that they are tracking their historical business performance well enough…which makes them concerned that they’re making future decisions without the right information. And they also know they’re missing out on data-driven sales opportunities. So that’s what we do at Data3, our data consultancy – we work with SMEs, on bespoke projects, connecting all their data together, and powering them with a single source of truth.
Think about it – founders have tons of data in the mix:
- Financial data
- Customer data
- Operations data
- Production data
- Marketing data
- Social media data
- Ecommerce data
- All the spreadsheets and documents in an organisation
And more…businesses, of all shapes, sizes and sectors, have high volumes of data.
What I’ve seen is there’s a huge untapped opportunity for data, both in the UK and globally. I’ve seen that smaller SMEs, of say less than 20 employees, have exactly the same problems as larger SMEs, but they can’t afford data consultancy fees to sort it all out for them in a bespoke project. So, smaller SMEs are unsupported and just have to muddle through with spreadsheets, or ignore the data, and go on gut feel. Today, small businesses don’t have the time/money/skills to become data-driven, so they miss out on the business benefits of becoming data-driven.
This is a problem, as savvy start-up founders know that data-driven businesses make more money. Here are just a few facts but there are tons more out there…
- According to Forrester in 2020, data-driven businesses saw revenues 162% higher than non-data-driven businesses – 162%! And 30% higher business growth too.
- According to McKinsey in 2020, data-driven businesses acquired 23 times more customers. 23 times!
- And, according to BARC in 2020, data-driven businesses increased their profit by 8% compared to non-data-driven business.
- Yet, according to Garner in 2019, 97% of business data was unused…97%! Unused!
That’s what I’m passionate about – the days of making business decisions, on guesstimates and gut feel, should be over. I want to empower smaller businesses to make data-driven decisions, just like the big businesses.
But we all know the world of business is unfair. Big businesses have all the data and artificial intelligence (AI) toys to play with, as well as the budgets and the people. Small businesses don’t. They’re not operating on a level playing field. So, how can we level the field? How can we enable SMEs to grow using big business data toys? How can we enable smaller businesses to get a single source of truth and make data-driven decisions too?
There must be a better way. A way to automatically bring business data together into one place. Within seconds. A way to check on business performance, just like you’d check on the weather. Now there is. myDATA3. That’s why I designed myDATA3 for founders like me. I feel your pain. Data should be simple for non-technical founders. It is now.
So why did I decide to build a SaaS product, in the middle of a pandemic, whilst also growing a global data consultancy?
I must be mad. Simple as that. But I hope all of the founders and marketers out there, like me, will reap the benefits of my madness. And realise that tracking your marketing and business performance is now easy.
Check out myDATA3, an instant, all-in-one business dashboard tool designed for start-up founders at mydata3.com. – it’s FREE and takes 2 mins max to register, connect and view your dashboards…so what have you got to lose?
Lynne is the Founder and CEO of Know-it!
She is a passionate, driven and forward-thinking entrepreneur determined to help resolve the late payment crisis gripping SMEs.
Having worked within the credit management industry for over 27 years and ran UK leading commercial debt recovery specialists Darcey Quigley & Co for over 16 years, Know-it was devleoped to make credit control more accessilble for SMEs to help them effectively mitigate credit risk, reduce debtor days and boost cashflow!
Connect with me on LinkedIn!
