Small Business SQL

howdm

I have been running a small online business for the last couple of years and have seen an incremental but steady rise in conversions, which is obviously positive. My issue is that I have an increased amount of data to juggle, especially since I started delivering to the EU. I’ve been managing with Excel spreadsheets so far but want to (or feel I have to) venture into SQL territory. Now I’m wondering: has any small business owner here found using an online SQL editor helpful? The blog from this version claims one can query “past performance” to identify new markets or add new products to your online shop. Given your own experience, would you recommend this kind of dashboard software to a small business owner? Or is it overkill?
Cheers,
H.

InsideInsurance

The results from data mining is only going to be as good as the quality of the data you are storing.

Depending on what your data is, and its sources, you may want to build your own database and reports/ dashboards or potentially move onto using a CRM system that will have a fair amount of prebuilt reports and analysis tools built into it.

Whilst the results can be interesting you ultimately need to be hitting a certain volume for the results to be statistically relevant. I know someone who spent a lot of time setting up A/B capabilities to their site so they could test which version of copy/ images etc lead to greater sales etc but with only a few sales a day it's unlikely to ever give meaningful results as extend the trial for months to get a relevant volume and your then potentially dirtying the results by competitors promotions, people entering/exerting the market etc.

You also have the free tools like Google Analytics that is fairly powerful for most elements short of pricing analysis or customer loyalty etc

Mr_Toad

How much do you understand about databases and the data they hold? What about tables, keys, indexing etc.?

What are you hoping the database will do, billing? Invoicing? Reports? Stock levels? Ordering? All of the above?

I made a career out of database design and support and there are many pitfalls for those who have just enough knowledge to get themselves into trouble.

You might spend so much time playing with the data, getting it right and understanding what it's telling you, that you lose focus on your core business.

You clearly recognise that the time has come to move on from spreadsheets but you have to be careful how you proceed.

That said I never worked on small business systems only large and complex databases for multinationals, the NHS, Govt. & military stuff and the like so I may well be overcomplicating things.

paddyrg

What Mr Toad says. You ask if it's worth getting into SQL territory, and that question alone tells me it's not what you're looking for (SQL is a setwise database programming and interrogation suite of languages, not a sales tool, analysis tool, database, database engine, etc).

I think the question that may be more useful to ask is 'Am I ready for an ERP?'. An ERP combines several areas of the business that use the same data into one system - they can act as a lead generating CRM, quote engine, stock control system, involving tool and accounting package. More importantly for you, it'll force your data into a format where you can start mining for trends etc (or pay someone to). Implementing one is a big deal, you adapt your processes and past data to fit it, but there are rewards if you get it right. Have a look at ERPLY.com for a sample of an online one.

andydiysaver

ERP's via external expertise cost a fair bit though so if you go down that route, you need to find developers who will do the aftercare after the sale is done, and not rush to move on afterall they're running a business, that one switch they forgot to throw 6 months ago suddenly becomes highly relevant now for whatever reason - and I've seen this time and time again - my measured opinion on ERP's via route of developer is simply this - price it as much by the value of the aftercare as by the value of the product design.

Fightsback

Mr_Toad wrote: »

How much do you understand about databases and the data they hold? What about tables, keys, indexing etc.?

What are you hoping the database will do, billing? Invoicing? Reports? Stock levels? Ordering? All of the above?

I made a career out of database design and support and there are many pitfalls for those who have just enough knowledge to get themselves into trouble.

You might spend so much time playing with the data, getting it right and understanding what it's telling you, that you lose focus on your core business.

You clearly recognise that the time has come to move on from spreadsheets but you have to be careful how you proceed.

That said I never worked on small business systems only large and complex databases for multinationals, the NHS, Govt. & military stuff and the like so I may well be overcomplicating things.

Sound advice and not forgetting that you have to worry about SQL injection malware on your website.

I_have_spoken

>I’ve been managing with Excel spreadsheets so far<

Do you use Powerpivot to help analyse the data, that would be far simpler than using SQL.

The small sellers on Ebay/Amazon have a number of programs to help keep track.

Or consider saleforce.com or something of that type for analysis. Your fees would be tax deductible, of course.