Data Management Best Practices
Introduction
Let us begin the article by posing some questions about data management best practices to small business owners-
- Do you know where your data is, the exact location of all your sales, customer emails, payments, and other important details?
- Are you aware of how you are going to exactly streamline your data to allow it to function to your advantage?
- Have you found out who owns the data, who has the access to it and how often do they use it for formulating strategies?
While doing research on this article, we reached out to ten small business owners and posed this question to them. Four of them had a ‘No’ for all three questions. Three answered in the affirmative for one of the questions. While just one small business owner could answer a yes for all three questions on data management best practices.
More than what and why anyone answered, the important thing to note is that the revenue figures for the one that answers ‘Yes’ to all questions were the highest!
Data Management Best Practices: Meaning and Definition
Data Management is the process of gathering, storing, analyzing, processing, and getting output from records, information, details, or DATA. It helps a company to streamline efficiency, boost productivity, build better relationships with new and existing customers, and grow the organization.
The best practices of data management related to how you can improve the entire process. Best practices help you improve the output and ROIs from your data management processes. The governance of data is where following the best practices really shines.
If you are following data management best practices, you will be able to make decisions based on exact details. This will contribute significantly to improving sales and reducing waste.
List of Top 5 Data Management Best Practices for Small Businesses in 2021
1. Pay Attention to the Security-
According to gartner data catalog, small businesses are more likely to be targets of cybercriminals and hackers than big ones. This is simply because small businesses are going to be more laid back and careless about where their data is and who is accessing it. This is why it is essential that as a small business, you are following the necessary security protocols.
2. Start using Cloud Solutions for Data Management-
One of the most important best practices of data management in 2021 is using the Cloud. This can help small business secure their data safely. It can also help fix the roles and responsibilities of people accessing data and show you who was the last one that had access. Cloud can also allow for remote working and promote overall efficiency within the small organization.
3. Train your Employees and Monitor Threats-
As a small business owner, you will be surprised to know that nearly fifty percent of all small business cybersecurity issues, were because of insiders/employees. Experts suggest that every small business should ensure that their employees are well trained to handle data. Businesses should also look at access points and promote using anti-virus and other firewalls for guarding.
4. Work with Data Management Experts-
Rather than look at it in terms of an additional cost, small businesses should consider this factor as an investment. Up until now, I have not come across a single small business owner, who has complained about a data management expert vendor. Working with a specialized company can help you start from the basics and gradually scale up your outputs from data management.
5. Start Slow and Scale-up Gradually-
As a small business, if you do not have any prior experience in data management, you can get overwhelmed if ten tech things are thrown at you simultaneously. Start small like compiling emailing lists of customers (new and old), segregate the data, and employ email marketing. This will allow your employees to get a hold of new things and improve at them.
The Final Word
In this article, we looked at five data management best practices, which small businesses should follow. We also shared some insights on why data management is important for small businesses, especially in 2021. Can you help add value to the article, by pointing out other important details about data management best practices? Let us know in the comments below.