Data is now arguably the most valuable commodity in 21st century entrepreneurship. Data can now be monetized in many ways with making data a sellable product now being a possibility. No wonder there have always been discussions around big tech titans like Facebook selling data to businesses. Cases like those ones involve things like big data, machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI). In this article, though, we discuss some simple business ideas based on data or involving data processing that you can start. These are businesses that you can start without necessarily needing the complex components such as data mining tools.
Auditing Services
Most professionally-run businesses value periodic auditing processes for their businesses. They tend to start off with internal auditing and then they hire external auditors in order to come up with comprehensive audit reports. Most companies actually hire certain auditing firms as their resident external auditors. If you start such a business and become reputable, you will have a load of clients always seeking your services. With the increased digitization that is sweeping all across the world, you can incorporate the use of simple data analysis tools to streamline and optimize your audit procedures.
Digital Marketing Services
Obviously there are more advanced ways to consider in running such a business but for this article we are focusing on simple ideas. One approach here is social media management where you offer services of running individuals or businesses’ social media accounts. You can base your analysis and decisions on in-depth looks at the engagements i.e. likes, mentions, comments, shares and the like. This can inform you on various types of insights that can be important in decision-making for the business in question. Even social media influencing can be done using these simple engagements tools that do not involve complex stuff. In social media marketing you can start discussions in which you ask the audience targeted questions that are meant to draw certain insights. Ultimately the data collected from such interactions ends up being useful for overall business strategy. So it is a potentially lucrative business idea to put together a digital marketing services business.
Research Firm
As for this idea you can explore either of two approaches namely, conducting studies as per a client’s specifications or conducting various studies whose data or findings you can sell later. Since data is now the most priced commodity in business these days, most businesses are looking for up-to-date data. Most countries do not have fresh data sets for the many areas of business concerns. For instance, it is common in most countries to not find up-to-date data. For instance, suppose as a business person you are looking for data on customer behaviours of young people aged between 18 and 35 in a particular country. It is not surprising to fail to get data on such aspects in most countries. This is where the business of having a research firm comes in. You can offer services where clients come to you and specify the type of data they are looking for and then you do the research for them. Alternatively, you can find out on-demand data sets and you conduct studies such that when clients come to you, you already have the data they are looking for.
Content Aggregation
Here is the thing; there is a limitless amount of content on virtually anything on the internet. Combing through it to find exactly what you want can be a tall order for most people. In fact, most people are not that good at using search engines to find what they are looking for. With a bid to start a business based on this you can choose a particular field or area and then you find out the most relevant content on the subject matter. You then create a means to tell people about the relevant content through, for example, a blog, a website or even on social media. Ultimately you end up being like a content creator of sorts – though in this case you will just be aggregating content. In essence the same approaches employed in content creation are the same here with the only difference being you are aggregating content as opposed to creating it per se.
Software Or Mobile App Development
Most businesses run their businesses using manual and arduous processes. For instance, you still find places where data collection, processing and analysis is still being done using manual means such writing on paper and manually analysing it. Think of something like a library, a supermarket and so on, where data collection, processing and analysis are done manually. Instead, very simple software or mobile apps can be developed to automate and streamline such processes. This is where software developers or mobile app developers can come in. You can either offer off-the-shelf products or you develop products according client specifications.
These are 5 simple data business ideas that you can consider starting. The good thing about these business ideas is that they are relatively low-cost and can be approached from many different angles. The other thing is that they are scalable i.e. they can be grown further in due course by even the incorporation of other more complex tools. Do not quickly rule them out as irrelevant because upon research you will be amazed at how these services are sought after. Draw from the convenience that comes with having things like the internet and social media – if properly used they can make your business journey smooth.
