Q2Q goes to University!
Over the past three weeks I have spent some time with a group of University Students at The Lancaster University Management School who, guided by the number 1 ‘networker’ in Lancashire Pete Cornwall, helped us to undertake some valuable business research on the use of data within SMEs. Our findings have been completely insightful and given us the facts on why and how we can help small businesses work more efficiently.
This project has not only allowed us to do some research on a topic that is extremely useful for our business but allowed the students to work on a real life business project- something I think is in-valuable.
We spent the first morning looking into Q2Q from all angles so that the team had a good understanding of our business. We then discussed the potential of Q2Q Sofia and its ability to gather data from all areas within a business onto one easy to use dashboard; thus becoming a time-saver and efficient business tool to allow management teams to analyse the position of their business, instantly.
It has become clear to us that the scope of Q2Q Sofia is massive, from financial dashboards to marketing analytics to sales projections. However the questions we needed answering were what is the most important data to an SME, and what are the main issues that they face when collating their data?
In our second meeting we discussed the project methodology by finalising an initial survey and organising interviews with some of our existing and potential new clients. The students also had access to a wide contact base for both the surveys and interviews.
Last week we received our report, which has given us an incredible insight into data usage with SMEs- in particular the problems faced in terms of the vast amount of dispersed data. The next stage for us is to put together a white paper with our findings with a view to working on a more in-depth research project that could focus on specific industries.
I am excited to share our findings with you and how we can solve many data related issues that SMEs are currently facing!
If you have a research project that you feel could be well executed by a team of students then give Pete Cornwall a message- he will happily meet for a no obligation chat on how the Lancaster Uni students can help you solve real life business issues! Email: [email protected]. For any dashboard or data related info please do not hesitate to give me a call at Q2Q on 01524 581 690.
