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Hire a Business Analyst to Solve Your Business Needs in New York City
New York City is a thriving economic hub with more than 1 million registered firms, ranging from small businesses to multinational enterprises. Whatever the size of your business, it's likely you could benefit from a critical outside eye specializing in business analytics to help you grow and thrive.
What Does a Business Analyst Do?
Business analysts work with companies to help them improve their processes and become more efficient. They perform research and analysis on business operations and recommend potential improvements.
Business analysts offer an outside perspective on the way a company works. An owner may bring in analysts for many reasons:
- To increase profits
- To support the expansion of a business
- To cut costs or solve cash-flow problems
- To restructure a business
- To help reach a specific goal
Some analysts work on short-term projects, looking at the operation of a business and suggesting solutions before moving on to the next company. Others stay at one company for a longer period and oversee the implementation of the solution.
Why hire a business analyst?
Business analytics help established companies thrive and support fledgling or ailing companies as they work to become more sustainable. The world of business is highly competitive. The New York Small Business Profile 2018 reports that in 2016, there were 14,417 startups in the state and 14,037 exits from the economy. A business analyst could help a company avoid becoming one of the latter statistics.
How can business analytics help my business?
Business analysts offer a variety of services to help businesses start on the path to success.
Identify key metrics
As Peter Drucker once said, "What gets measured gets managed." Key Performance Indicators, also known as KPIs, are a crucial tool for any business analyst. They allow analysts to understand the health of the business and how efficient its processes are. From there, they can recommend improvements.
Metrics should be:
- Clearly defined
- Agreed upon by all stakeholders
- Properly calibrated in line with expectations and goals
- Appropriate to the business environment being measured
- Relevant to the issue being assessed
- Suitably weighted
Some metrics are used as lagging indicators, meaning they track the work that has been done and can show how effectively the business analysts' recommendations have impacted the company. Some metrics are used as leading indicators and can provide a reasonable prediction of how the company may perform in the future.
Metrics should be reevaluated regularly to ensure they are still relevant and accurate.
Run A/B tests & analyze results
A/B testing is popular in the world of advertising and market research. The principles apply to other areas of business too.
One common mistake that business owners make is to change too many things about their business at the same time. For example, if they're struggling to drum up business midweek, they may run price promotions, host special events, change their opening hours and run an expensive advertising campaign.
If business improves, which of those changes made things better? Should they continue spending on ads? Are the events worth the hassle? Should those price promotions continue?
If overall profits fall, is that because people choose to come on the cheaper night rather than other days of the week? Did running those events drive away some existing customers? Are your advertisements too expensive and not bringing in enough extra trade?
Proper measurements and tracking can help businesses make better decisions. A/B testing involves changing one thing at a time and comparing the results. For example, a business might have two sets of flyers printed and hand out an equal number of each, then track how many people respond to each ad.
Business analytics uses A/B testing in many areas of their work to provide accurate and timely advice.
Create dashboards & visualize data
business analysts don't work in a vacuum. Once they've gathered their business analytics data, they communicate it to the leadership of the organization.
Depending on the size of the organization, they may need to work with team leaders, project managers, or mid-level leadership to improve one aspect of a business. Alternatively, they could operate at a much higher level.
Communicating complex and detailed information about the health of a company is an important skill. Analysts create dashboards and visualizations for their own use and to report to the managers who hired them.
These visualizations provide an at-a-glance overview of the status of a company, department, or project. This makes life easier for key decision-makers. If the analyst creates a useful, systematic reporting system that the company can use after their contract is done, the business will be well-positioned for long-term success.
Analyze existing data & make strategic decisions
Bringing in an external consultant allows companies to get a fresh perspective. Even large companies often fall into the trap of doing things in a certain way because "that is how it has always been done."
Fear of change and an unwillingness to innovate can stop companies from growing. It can often be difficult for managers to see how a company is performing and what's holding them back, simply because they are too close to the company.
An outsider can see things that those within the company overlook and ask the "stupid questions" that may have insightful and important answers.
Business analysts have a high-level understanding of what makes a business successful. They can suggest things those inside the business may be unwilling to discuss for fear of repercussions, and they can make impartial, practical, and actionable suggestions.
Changes could include:
- Changing suppliers
- Raising or lowering prices
- Moving a portion of the business online
- Restructuring teams or reassigning workers
- Changing manufacturing or delivery processes
- Adding or removing products from the lineup
- Changing pricing structure, for example, moving to a subscription model
- Changing the type of company, for example, sole trader to limited
- Moving venue
- Rebranding to target a different portion of the market
- Changing advertising techniques
- Finding cost savings through CI systems
How to Choose a Business Analyst
The New York City Economic Development Corporation President & CEO James Patchett believes the economy in NYC is quite robust. Even so, individual business owners should take steps to recession-proof their companies.
When looking for a business analyst, consider the following.
Find an analyst that isn't scared to get back to basics
A good business analyst will go through every single aspect of your business and assume nothing. This may seem tedious; however, it's the best way to ensure a positive outcome. By breaking down every aspect of your business plan, you're more likely to uncover areas where you're wasting time and money or operating on outdated assumptions.
Ask each analyst what tools they use in their day-to-day work
There are many tools and trends in the world of business analysis. Does your analyst have a large toolbox and apply the right ideas for the job, or do they stick doggedly to one tool because it's the only one they are confident in?
Some analysts use a simple process framework. Some rely heavily on use cases. In some industries, agile is the way to go. Indeed, agile technologies are in fashion at the moment. In others, continuous integration and continuous delivery are the most popular way of pushing business development.
Not all industries suit all processes and methods. Even within an industry, certain company cultures fare better with one method over another.
Find a consultant who's willing to get to know you and your team. An effective consultant is one who understands the importance of working with the business and the talent that's already there in a way that makes everyone happy.
Find someone who can communicate effectively
Bringing in an outsider to make changes to your business is always going to be met with skepticism.
- Some employees may feel that their own ideas were ignored, and yet an outsider has come in to make sweeping changes to the way things are done.
- The rumor mill may start spreading fear that "change" means "job losses."
- Senior employees may dislike changes that disrupt their workflow.
Having a business analyst who communicates well and is good at getting people on board with change is invaluable. An effective analyst will talk to stakeholders at every level and understand their fears, thought processes, and values.
All too often, those who are working on the shop floor or in customer-facing positions have a vastly different idea of how the business works than those who are in managerial positions. Collecting information from both sides and helping each side understand the other is vital.
Make your business analyst a part of your team
Whether you're bringing a BA on board for a few months to turn around a struggling branch or project or want someone who can steer the company in the longer term, having the person you hire become a real part of your team increases the chances of success.
Consider doing a panel interview so that your prospective analyst can meet several members of the existing team from various sides of the business. Everyone (or at the very least, most people) should feel that the person you contract with can provide constructive feedback, challenge, and ideas.
If your team all agree with the idea of bringing this particular freelancer on board, they will find it easier to resolve conflicts and manage any "sticky stakeholders" later in the process. There will always be issues when a business analyst is brought in to make changes to a company. Engaging stakeholders early on in the process smooths things over and helps to overcome any resistance.
Choose someone with experience in your industry
The best recommendations come from someone who understands the industry you're trading in. Many aspects of management and business improvement are things that apply to any business, but the exact implementation of those details will vary between industries.
Take, for example, running a restaurant. The idea of economies of scale is valid. However, a restaurant that serves 40 tables per night should not be ordering fresh fish by the hundreds. It may pay less per fish, but the fish would not taste as good when frozen, so any unused fish would be wasted.
This is where either having that expertise or, at the very least, being willing to listen to others who do have it is necessary. Focusing purely on finances and flow charts misses the finer details. Rushing to save money without understanding the reason it's being spent risks a loss of quality either in the product or the way that service is provided.
Ask how many businesses the consultant works with
Some business analyst consultants work with multiple small businesses at a time. Others focus their efforts purely on one business. Depending on the size and nature of your business, you may wish to discuss NDAs and ensure there are no conflicts of interest. Be clear on what you expect from the analyst and the time period you will be working with them.
It's possible to get significant results even when working with a consultant for a short period of time as long as you and your team listen to what the consultant has to say and make lasting changes to the business. Bigger enterprises may benefit from longer-term one-on-one support to ensure new workflows or procedures are fully integrated at all levels of the business.