Can Small Business Benefit From Business Intel. Software? -Inc.

People have been looking at data to bolster business since the beginning of, well, business. Go way, way back and a Roman sandal-clad street merchant 2,000 years ago might have noticed over time that he gets about a dozen more customers buying his wares on the days when he puts a canopy over his wagon as a shield from the hot midday sun. As a result, he goes to the trouble of putting the bothersome thing up every day and his business benefits. . .

http://www.inc.com/articles/201109/business-intelligence-software-for-small-business.html