Big business intelligence for small business: How it helps SMEs

Business intelligence for small business brings powerful, actionable insights to SMEs that were previously the preserve of large enterprises.

With it, you can turn data into something tangible, saving time with manual report creation. Without it, trends in inefficiencies are difficult to spot and it can be harder to forecast or plan ahead for growth.  

Join us as we unpack what is meant by business intelligence and what it brings to small businesses, with key components from our expertise in the field that we recommend you consider. We’ll also cover some popular solutions that we’ve got experience in advising on and implementing. 

What is ‘business intelligence’?

Intelligence is a word we see a lot in the world of work. Market intelligence, artificial intelligence, emotional intelligence and many more crop up daily. So, what exactly is ‘intelligence’ when it relates to business? 

Put simply, business intelligence, or BI, is the power to make better decisions. It refers to any process, technology or tool that is used to collect, analyse and present business data.  

Why might a small business use business intelligence?

BI systems will transform raw data into meaningful insights in the form of easy-to-understand dashboards, reports and visualisations.   

With a clearer, more tangible picture of all your data, you can make business decisions more quickly and with more confidence. 

Once they’re implemented and optimised, BI tools for a small business can be used to improve financial visibility, offer time-saving automation, increase efficiency and can lead to a competitive advantage.  

Improved financial visibility

One benefit of BI is the end of manually pulling data from a number of systems, as you can draw upon instant real-time financial information. BI tools will allow you to design bespoke dashboards with ease through a drag-and-drop interface. As your data updates in real-time, changes will be reflected in any created dashboard, meaning you’ll get true visibility of everything as it happens. 

Time-saving automation

Instead of your teams needing to spend hours compiling spreadsheets, BI, with a bit of optimisation to suit your needs, will automate required reporting and analysis for you. Once optimised, you’ll save hours on reporting, freeing up resource to focus on other value-adding tasks.  

Increased efficiency

With dashboards in place, business leads can analyse performance across different areas – such as finance, sales, inventory and marketing. With this, inefficiencies can be more easily spotted, enabling businesses can streamline operations and improve productivity.  

Many BI tools are available on a number of different devices, so teams can be more efficient on the road and out of the office. 

An overall better competitive advantage

All these points lead to one all-encompassing reason for the use of BI for a small business: SMEs will use BI to gain a competitive advantage.  

With more data to hand, in a format that’s easy to understand, BI provides an efficient way to track things like revenue, expenses, stock levels, sales performance and cash flow in real time. This means you can make more accurate, strategic decisions. 

Key components of business intelligence for smaller businesses

BI tools will have various components that come together to leverage the data of a small business. An SME may already have the key components in place – it’s just about joining the dots.  

Here are the key things to consider: 

• Data sources and integration – ‘Data sources’ refers to the systems that are currently storing data, being used in everyday operations. These could include an enterprise resource planning system, such as Sage 200 or SAP Business One, or a finance solution such as Sage Intacct. It’s important that your BI tool integrates with these systems so that all data is leveraged. 
• Data warehousing – This is the time to consider what data needs to be gathered, stored and optimised to be leveraged by the BI tool. It’s vital that data is as clean as possible and well maintained; accurate data means accurate BI reports! 
• Dashboard creation – Take the time to build dashboards that provide the most insight. Tools like Roveel or Microsoft Power BI are known for easy-to-use dashboard creation.
• Usability and accessibility – Pick a BI tool that’s easy to use. Often, when an SME is considering implementing BI, they’ll lack the in-house data analysts that can support with optimising for BI. You might also consider partnering with a provider who can advise on more than just getting your data and systems in shape, going further to guide you on roll-out and ensuring the BI tool is accessible on various devices across your teams.
• Security and compliance – This is really important. Lack of data compliance, when leveraging customer data puts data at risk of leaks and breaches. Compliance with GDPR is vital, while role-based access to the data can be optimised within BI, so that individuals can only see or work with the data required. You can also speak with a partner about ensuring your data is backed up, safe and secure. A partner can even look after all that for you, through storing your data on a public or private cloud, for instance. 

How can a small business get started with business intelligence?

When considering a BI tool for your small business, there are some key steps need to be carried out before getting started.  

Begin by defining your desired goals. BI may want to be utilised for improving financial visibility, or to support with streamlining operations; focus on a few essential metrics and avoid making things too complex. 

Next up, assess your data sources. It’s important to determine where business data is being stored and choose a BI tool that integrates with where it’s stored. Microsoft Power BI is a great option for this, as it integrates with a wide variety of key systems. 

And, on that note, make sure that you’re choosing the right BI tool for you. Prioritise a tool that’s user-friendly and affordable. Again, Power BI ticks these boxes, while also having all the good stuff we’ve covered so far. A small business could even start with a demo or trial before committing. But there are other options available depending on your needs – the reporting capabilities of Roveel are a perfect addition for Sage users, for example. 

It’s then important to clean and organise the data. Ensure consistency, fix errors, automate updates to maintain accurate insights. As covered earlier, poor data leads to poor reporting, which leads to poor decisions. 

Once clean, build dashboards with those key metrics that were defined earlier. It could be to track certain revenue streams or to spot customer trends. 

It’s then down to the training your team receive, to encourage widespread adoption and help employees understand the benefits of BI. 

Once your BI machine is well oiled, it’s about continuously reviewing the results that BI is providing. At this point, it’s good to optimise to meet any new KPIs, identify new opportunities and expand BI usage as a business grows.  

What business intelligence software is best for small businesses?

Let’s look at two tools that suit different the different business and finance tools we work with. 

For SAP Business One: Microsoft Power BI

Microsoft Power BI is a widespread, easily accessible, leading business intelligence tool. It can deliver all that we’ve covered and is particularly great for data connectivity and transformation, has some of the best functionality for building dashboards and it’s available in the cloud or via desktop app. You can utilise it for free, then decide if you wish to scale up your package option.  

Understanding Power BI’s tiers of licensing

There are three tiers of licensing for Microsoft Power BI; free, pro and premium. Each differ slightly in availability: 

• Free – the best option for individuals. It offers full report and dashboard creation, data connectivity, data modelling and advanced analytics, but reports can’t be shared online and there’s no manual updates; users must refresh automatically. 

• Pro – the best option for small teams and SMEs. Includes all the free features, but also the ability to schedule up-to-date refreshes, app integration with Microsoft Teams and SharePoint, it can be hosted in the cloud and reports can be shared amongst team members. 

• Premium – the best option for medium – large businesses. Includes all of the above features but allows for the handling of bigger datasets and access to AI and advanced analytics tools, such as machine learning. 

Microsoft Power BI works with most ERP solutions and is a perfect complement to the capabilities of SAP Business One, an ERP designed for growing SMEs.  

Reporting for Sage 200: Roveel

While Power BI integrates perfectly with Sage 200, we’re also huge fans at Thinc of the reporting capabilities that Roveel adds to the solution.  

Roveel is a powerful business intelligence tool that takes reporting and dashboarding to the next level. It’s designed to integrate seamlessly with a selection of ERPs, including Sage 200, transforming your financial and operational data into interactive, visual dashboards that are easy to understand and explore.  

With pre-built templates tailored to different business functions – such as sales, finance and purchasing – Roveel removes the complexity of traditional reporting, enabling users at all levels to make data-driven decisions quickly and confidently. 

An ideal business intelligence tool for small businesses, Roveel enhances Sage by offering real-time insights without the need for technical expertise or time-consuming exports to Excel. It connects directly to your Sage database, delivering live, accurate information through a secure cloud platform. Whether you need to monitor KPIs, track cash flow, or analyse trends, Roveel provides the clarity and flexibility needed to make better strategic decisions and drive business performance. 

Preparing for BI with Thinc

As we’ve covered, taking the leap to BI tools as a small business can be challenging. It takes careful planning and data migration to truly prepare for using BI tools and that’s before you’ve even selected the right tool for you. From considering the ERP that you are using and having integrated systems so that the right data is leveraged correctly are both key components of planning for BI, but they’re also components we can support with.  

At Thinc, we’re also experts in integrating Microsoft Power BI and Roveel with your core business applications, with a track record of supporting SMEs to become intelligent businesses. Should you wish to find out more, get in touch today.