Educated growth opportunities allow for companies to preserve resources while honing a competitive edge. For startups, conserving resources is extremely important. And for larger firms, resource management can be the difference between growth and stagnation.

Managing growth is easier said than done. Thankfully there are proven strategies, like the 10% strategy. Its core concept involves finding ways to make a small, yet measurable impact in your operations behind the scenes in order to unlock explosive growth in customer acquisition, revenue and profitability.

Big Data helps Small Firms Compete

Improving the effectiveness of your operations is a lot easier than you might think – especially with the help of big data. Virtually every industry is learning to collect and apply the magic of big data to their daily operations – from evolutions in business intelligence impacting real estate agencies, to the ways our governments find and confirm cyber threats.

For startups and smaller firms, it’s important to understand that harnessing big data does not require a massive investment in new personnel or server hardware. Your company can start collecting an endless amount of information from both current and potential customers with the help of existing cloud-based platforms.

Take Advantage of Big Data Platforms and Outside Consultants

Kissmetrics, for example, is a popular marketing platform that allows companies to closely monitor how visitors interact with their website. For ecommerce brands, this data is a must. And it goes a step further – offering even the least technical among us the opportunity to create customized triggers for specific types of visitors.

By offering customers a more personalized, easier to use online experience, it’s pretty easy to improve conversions by that magic 10%.

To get the best results, I highly recommend contracting with an outside vendor for your big data needs. Even Fortune 500s enjoy the ingenuity and hands-off approach that big data consultants provide. And, most companies will allow you to take their platform for a test drive, without making an annual commitment. So, it really is a low-risk opportunity to achieve targeted growth.

Get Faster at Responding to New Client Engagement

The gift of the internet is that even one-man-bands can offer products and services to customers around the world, 24/7/365. It’s so easy for potential clients to head over to Google and complete a quick search.

But here’s the problem. The most desirable keyword phrases are highly competitive. You can definitely break into the top 10 results, but you need to overdeliver right out of the gate. This means engaging clients more quickly, and in a way that is incredibly helpful.

By grabbing data on potential clients that are researching or engaging with your firm, you gain an opportunity to personally engage with them. A phone call, email or text sent within an hour of someone visiting your site is 700% more likely to result in a conversion.

That’s a huge game changer!

Keep looking for other ways to differentiate yourself from the competition. With the information you’re collecting, you’ll be in a much stronger position to deliver on the things that matter most to your clients.

Saving Money Supercharges Growth

It’s easy to get bogged down in the many opportunities that exist to chase new customers. But it’s always important to step back and consider ways to trim your operating budget. A few of my favorite ways to improve the bottom-line without sacrificing new customers include:

• Creatively taking advantage of tax credits.
• Find ways to marry public policy (grants) with corporate objectives. The green energy industry is ripe with grant opportunities.
• Reassess existing partnerships. For example, I recently helped a client renegotiate their sponsorship of a wind farm. They used this sponsorship in marketing materials to help engage green-conscious consumers. It turns out, the cost of providing wind energy has dropped So, we renegotiated their annual sponsorship fee.

Get creative. Don’t be afraid to take a fresh look at previous business decision. You might just find that you aren’t maximizing savings. And with savings, comes the opportunity to more strategically apply resources to the things that offer maximum growth – like harnessing big data to create a more personalized customer experience.

In conclusion, big data is the secret ingredient for startups and smaller firms that want to create sustainable, managed growth. From finding ways to operate more efficiently, to improving the speed with which new potential customers are engaged, there are real opportunities for your firm to improve engagement and conversion. Are you ready to harness big data’s massive ROI?