Big Data for Small Business for Dummies - by Bernard Marr (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

Written by bestselling author and big data expert Bernard Marr, Big Data For Small Business For Dummies helps you understand what big data actually is--and how you can analyse and use it to improve your business. Free of confusing jargon and complemented with lots of step-by-step guidance and helpful advice, it quickly and painlessly helps you get the most from using big data in a small business.

Business data has been around for a long time. Unfortunately, it was trapped away in overcrowded filing cabinets and on archaic floppy disks. Now, thanks to technology and new tools that display complex databases in a much simpler manner, small businesses can benefit from the big data that's been hiding right under their noses. With the help of this friendly guide, you'll discover how to get your hands on big data to develop new offerings, products and services; understand technological change; create an infrastructure; develop strategies; and make smarter business decisions.

• Shows you how to use big data to make sense of user activity on social networks and customer transactions
• Demonstrates how to capture, store, search, share, analyse and visualise analytics
• Helps you turn your data into actionable insights
• Explains how to use big data to your advantage in order to transform your small business

If you're a small business owner or employee, Big Data For Small Business For Dummies helps you harness the hottest commodity on the market today in order to take your company to new heights.

From the Back Cover

Learn to:

• Develop a big data strategy for a small business
• Use big data to develop new offerings, products and services
• Turn your data into insights
• Transform your business model and make better business decisions

Capitalise on big data to add value to your small business

Written by big data guru Bernard Marr, this book helps you understand what big data is -- and how you can analyse and use it to improve your business. You'll discover how to get your hands on big data to develop new products and services, develop strategies, understand technological change and, ultimately, make smarter business decisions.

• Data, data everywhere -- find out why big data matters to any business--big or small--and get familiar with the many places you can find it
• Dig into big data -- use big data to understand your customers and markets, improve your operations, tackle your key business enablers and predict performance
• Unpack big data -- discover the pros and cons of new forms of data and come to grips with the technology changes that underpin them
• If you build it... -- focus on the value of insights, develop and access big data competencies and build a killer big data infrastructure
• It's show time! -- create a big data strategy, apply data in your decision making and foster an effective big data culture in your business

Open the book and find:

• How to make big data work in your small business
• Why big data is such big news
• Advice on coping with messy data
• Ways to access the data that's out there
• Guidance on developing and accessing big data competencies
• The biggest big data mistakes--and how to avoid them
• Key big data collection tools for small businesses
• The top ten free big data sources

About the Author

Bernard Marr helps companies to better manage, measure, report and analyse performance. His leading-edge work with major companies, organisations and governments across the globe makes him an acclaimed and award-winning keynote speaker, researcher, consultant and teacher.