Integrating Business Analytics into SMEs in Mexico: Challenges and Opportunities

Abstract

Entrepreneurs in Mexico start their businesses out of need, based on good ideas or to accomplish a “dream”. Nonetheless, starting out a business is not an easy task. Usually, business owners lack either professional background or financial knowledge, and focus only on keeping the business afloat, while trying to obtain profits. Business Intelligence and Analytics serve a great purpose in the growth of any company, but it is usually left out or ignored by small or medium enterprises, due to a lack of knowledge or because owners do not consider it necessary for a mid to long term plan. In the long run, businesses usually fail to achieve profit or cannot continue, and end up not knowing what went wrong. The information that a business generates could serve as a starting point for good and solid decision making, but the culture that dominates small and medium enterprises on any industry leaves important information unrecorded or unattended, forcing them to work based only on trial and error.