Case Study: Equity Gap

Award-winning Scottish angel investor Equity Gap could see the growing importance of having a robust understanding of data, both for its own business and for the businesses in which they invest.

These companies ranged in both sectors and stages of growth, so they needed a time and cost-efficient approach which worked for all. To do so, they turned to effini.

Strengthening your business

Equity Gap had worked closely with effini to strengthen their own data strategy but needed a different approach to introduce key concepts and the best practices to their portfolio. Some of these companies already had an appreciation of the role of data in their business, others had not considered what data they were generating or what to do with it. Training would have to be flexible to reflect the role of data in different sectors and companies at different stages of growth.

“We wanted effini to deliver tailored workshops to provide a valuable data foundation for our early-stage companies”

Jock Millican – Founder and Director of Equity Gap

Developing data skills

effini developed a programme of workshops to help any business navigate their data, covering topics including:

Telling a story: using data effectively to show what’s happening
KPI definition: best practices for defining and managing metrics
Automated reporting: tools and techniques to save you time and money
Caring for your data: practical data management approaches
Improving data quality: common problems and how to spot and rectify
AI and Machine Learning: what does it really mean for a business?
Compliance: practical steps for GDPR compliance

A blend of in-person and online events were used to make sure each business could benefit from the full series of workshops.

Who came along?

Attendees ranged from technical leads and marketing managers through to finance managers and CEOs. They came with a huge range of questions including what specific data terminology meant, how to apply these techniques to their business and how they could get started.

What they gained

Attendees gained a common language around data which allowed them to go back into their business more confident and knowledgeable about why these activities needed to be addressed.

They learnt about the alignment between the data activities and their strategic goals, and how simple changes could reduce risk as well as create opportunities to start getting real value from their data.

What next

Several companies initiated projects to allow them to start looking at, and understanding better, the data in their organisation. Others engaged data expertise from outside their company to address priority areas. And others identified key personnel in their organisation to take ownership of this area and start defining their roadmap.

“Going into the effini workshops I didn’t really know where to start with my data. What I learned has helped me to better understand how to go about using the data that is important to my company”

Workshop participant