For innovative businesses, one of the crucial roles that data plays is proving to a sometimes sceptical audience that your product provides a new solution to a recurrent problem.
You know that your idea will change the world – but gathering facts and figures to convince other people is much simpler when you have a thorough data strategy in place.
At this point in the digital age, acting on “gut instinct” when it comes to making operational decisions are long gone. Today all elements of a business’s operations – design, production, distribution, marketing, customer services – can be monitored, measured and analyzed.
This means that businesses which have engaged with the processes of digital transformation will have facts and figures on hand to get across not just what they do, but why (and how) they do it more effectively than anyone else. If you are innovating, this is the essence of the idea that you have to “sell”, to position yourself as a market leader.
One business I have recently come across with an innovative – potentially world-changing –product is the UK food technology company It’s Fresh!. In a world where millions go starving despite one third of the food we produce going to waste, they claim their packaging product can reduce waste by 45% - and they have the data to prove it.
Founder Director Simon Lee told me “For me it’s absolutely clear, having solid case study data to validate the efficacy of our technology is vital.”
It’s Fresh’s primary product is a unique filter designed to extend quality and freshness by the absorption of ethylene, a natural gas which causes fruit and vegetables to ripen and spoil more quickly.
Using data to build a solid case that would prove they have solved a problem caused by deteriorating fruit and vegetables required careful monitoring of trials throughout the entire supply chain from growers to distribution and packing facilities, as well as retail outlets and into the home.
Sales Director Peter Durose said “I can go and talk to retailers and growers, and if I can put data in front of them, to demonstrate what we’re doing - they are much more likely to listen as extending shelf lifeand quality as well as reducing waste and increasing both sales and margin is extremely compelling, especially when sustainability and value for money is becoming ever increasingly important for the consumers”
To-date the green & white striped filter has been used by UK retailers including Morrisons, Waitrose and M&S, as well as Carrefour in France and Walmart and Albertson/Safeway in the USA as well as their supply chain growers worldwide.
Durose says: “With producebeing shipped worldwide to ensure continual supply of our favourite produce, growers in USA, Chile, Mexico and South Africa are using It’s Fresh! to mitigate any risk of deterioration during transit as well as being able to expand their business by shipping further afield to new markets knowing that the technology protects quality during the extra journey time.
Some opinions expressed in this article may be those of a guest author and not necessarily Analytikus. Staff authors are listed in https://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2017/10/05/the-essential-role-of-data-and-analytics-in-innovation-and-start-up-success/#2f51c57420ad
