Why Your Business Problems Won’t Be Solved by Hiring a Data Analyst

The problem with hiring a data analyst is that you’re going to end up spending a lot of money on someone who doesn’t actually solve any problems.

When I first started working in analytics, I was convinced that hiring a data analyst would solve many business problems. But after spending years in the industry, I realized that this wasn’t true. In fact, it often made things worse.

It takes more than simply having an analyst

If you’ve ever hired a data analyst before, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about. They come in, spend hours analyzing your data, and then tell you that they’ve found something interesting. But when you dig deeper, you realize that they didn’t actually find anything useful.

So why hire a data analyst? Because they are experts in data analysis, right? Well, yes and no. While they are experts, they aren’t necessarily experts in your business. An analyst, not a domain or subject matter expert. They don’t understand what makes your business tick, and they won’t be able to tell you whether or not something is going to work.

And because they are paid based on their expertise, you might need to invest a high rate for their services. This means that you will end up paying more than you need to, and you will spend more time trying to figure out how to fix your problems yourself.

In this post, we’ll take a look at why hiring a data analyst isn’t the solution to your problems, and we’ll show you five reasons why you should consider outsourcing your data analysis instead.

1. They Don’t Understand Your Business

Data analysts are not business domain experts. Data analysts are trained to analyze large amounts of data. But when it comes to analyzing your company’s data, they won’t have any idea what they are doing.

They will simply collect your data, and then try to come up with conclusions about your business based on that data. But they won’t know which metrics matter most, and they won‘t know how to interpret those metrics.

This can lead to all sorts of issues. For example, if you want to improve customer retention, you might ask them to see what happens when customers buy from your site. But they won‘t understand what the numbers mean, so they may misinterpret them.

Instead, you need an expert who understands your business and knows how to measure its success. You need someone who has experience in your industry, and who can help you identify the metrics that matter most.

2. They Aren’t Experts in Your Industry

Data analysts are trained in statistics, but they aren’t experts in your industry. They won’t know which metrics matter most, and they won‘t be able to tell if a particular metric is important enough to track.

Unless the analyst is paired with the domain expert, they cannot provide any meaningful insights. Data analysts are trained in statistics and other quantitative methods, but they are not experts in your industry.

They won’t know how to interpret the numbers, and they won’t understand how those numbers relate to your business.

They also won’t be able to tell you whether the numbers are accurate, or whether they are missing something.

In addition, they won’t be familiar with the tools that you use to run your business. So they won’t know which ones are most appropriate for your needs.

3. They Are Paid Based On Their Expertise

When you hire a data analyst, you are paying them based on their expertise. That means that they will charge you a higher rate than someone who doesn’t have the same level of experience.

This means that you will end up investing more than you need, and you will spend a lot of time trying to figure out what they are telling you. The ROI of hiring a data analyst will be low, and you will waste a lot of time.

4. They Will Take Too Long To Deliver Results

The average data analyst takes anywhere from 6 months to 2 years to deliver results. But this is just the average. Some data analysts take longer than that, and some take less. The point is that you shouldn’t expect to get results quickly.

Analysts are not a hacker, and they don’t work at lightning speed. If you want faster results, you should hire a consultant instead.

5. They May Be Unreliable

Because data analysts are paid based on their results, they may be tempted to cut corners. This means that they may miss important details, or they may make mistakes.

When you hire a data analyst, you are trusting them with your company’s future. That means that you are putting your entire business in their hands. So even if they are reliable, you still need to check everything they say.

If you rely on their results, you could end up making bad decisions. A data analyst isn’t there to offer advice. Instead, they are hired to analyze your data.

So if you want to learn about how to grow your business, you need to find a different source of information or consider hiring someone with the business know-how to do the job.

6. They May Not Have Enough Time or Resources

A data analyst spends much of his/her day analyzing data. That means that he/she might not have enough time to focus on anything else.

Hire a data analyst only if you are willing to give him/her all of your attention. Otherwise, you risk having him/her distracted by other projects.

Data analysts can also be overwhelmed by the amount of data that they are expected to process. In fact, it has been estimated that there is so much data available today,

If your business doesn’t have a lot of data in place, then you probably don’t need a data analyst.

7. You Might Want To Do It Yourself

If you decide to hire a data analyst, there is a good chance that you will end up having to do the bulk of the work yourself. You will have to collect all of your data, clean it, and prepare it for analysis. And even though you might think that you can do these tasks, you probably won’t be as efficient as a professional.

Automated data analytics is one way to solve this problem. If you use an automated tool, you can create reports without doing much manual work.

8. They Don’t Know How to Work With People

Data analysts usually aren’t very social. They focus on solving problems instead of building relationships.

That means that they will often ignore other parts of your business. For example, they will never talk to your salespeople or your customers. This lack of communication skills makes it difficult for them to understand what is going on within your organization.

Conclusion

If you thought this article was a bit pessimistic, I apologize. However, I have seen this pattern everywhere. The hiring of a data analyst alone is not going to solve your business problems. In fact, it will make them worse. Data analysts are trained to examine data and then tell you what conclusions you should draw from it. It is not their job to help you understand why those conclusions were drawn.

Do not rush to jump to buzzword solutions like “Big Data Analytics” when you are facing serious challenges in your business. If you do, you will most likely end up wasting a lot of money and time.

Instead, try to find a solution that works for your specific situation. For example, if you have too much inventory, you should first ask whether you really need so many products. Then you should evaluate how you can reduce your inventory without hurting sales.

It is not a surefire it will magically solve your business problem. Try to understand the data needs in your company. If you have a problem with customer service, you should first identify which customers are causing you trouble. Then you should figure out why they are doing this. Finally, you should come up with ways to fix the issue.