There is no question or debate about it: now is the era of Big Data. As hardware that creates, shares and stores data becomes more ubiquitous and easier to use, the amount of data increases at rates never before thought probable or possible. The big question in 2018, for many companies, will be: how do we put this incredible volume and variety of information to the best possible use?

Here are five important tips on surviving and thriving in the age of Big Data.

Be proactive and unconventional in how you tap into new data

Regardless of what the product or service you sell is, it is now possible for you to learn about and study the habit of your target demographic in ways never before imagined. The companies that are left behind are the companies that do not realise this potential. Accrue data that would appear irrelevant to your business but is relevant to your customer. Consider buying habits, consider income, consider online activity, and use it to create new avenues for interacting with your buyer.

Focus on data organisation, not just data gathering

Actually finding the information is not going to be a problem for most companies with any knowledge of technology. The trickier part is going to be actually organising it into a meaningful, unified whole. Integrate information of all sorts and concentrate on how each piece of data might affect another, as oppose to simply holding on to a number of large ‘data ghettos' filled with unrelated data.

Get trained employees to deal with large quantities of information

Dealing with Big Data is not something every member of your workforce will be able to do. This is why you will have to make sure you have people in your company that are trained in analysing information and putting it to use. This is a highly skilled capability, so do not assume just anybody can do it.

Don't be afraid of creativity

These days, it pays to stand out from the crowd. Every company has a website, Twitter presence, Facebook page and a profile on whatever other social media hangout is hip this week. How many of them are using these platforms to truly do something different? The inundation of information now available gives you all the tools you need to make yourself different from the herd. Be willing to strategise differently and make the most of the opportunity.

For many small business people, particularly those running a brand new start up, the question of how much information you should share with your employees and you customers is a very pertinent one. While, undoubtedly, people prefer to work for a company and buy from a company that seems to be successful, confident and on the way up, pretending to be successful when you are not can sometimes feel inauthentic. And yet, there are very few business that can afford complete transparency.

Is there a way to run a successful company with complete honesty? Here are a couple of key issues to think about.

The question of strength and weakness

We all know that it is good marketing to be up front and vocal about what your company is doing well, but what about the other stuff? Is it OK to be up front about things that your business has done badly and areas in which it has failed?

While some would argue that no business should ever highlight its weaknesses, either to employees or customers (after all, there'll be plenty of other people to do this for you), showing some humility and discussing openly the improvements you want to make gives your business more humanity. Just ensure you always couch it in positive language.

Be honest but stay on brand

The question of branding is now as important for a small start up with four employees as it is for a multinational corporation. Customers in all market sectors want a company to which they can connect and identify, even for the smallest of purchases.

So, when designing and implementing a branding strategy, ensure that it is one which is honest and in line with the real company that you run. Do not try to claim your business is something it isn't. Staying on brand if a brand is totally honest is not such a hard proposition.

Hire employees that fit with the real company

If you wish to run a more open and honest work environment, then you will have to trust your employees to be honest too. Ensure that the people you hire are happy to be part of such a business and have faith in the company culture that you want to create.

This might mean hiring based on attitude as opposed to skill. That might seem counterintuitive for a small business looking to get ahead, but oftentimes it is the mindset of the company that sees it really make a mark.

Getting motivated in business is not always easy. It doesn't matter how many qualifications you have on your CV, how much experience you have or how high the figure on your payslip is. If you want to stay successful, you have to stay motivated. Here is a list of quotes from successful people to get you in the right frame of mind for consistent achievement.

Success is walking from failure to failure with no loss of enthusiasm.

Winston Churchill

Don't let your ego get too close to your position, so that if your position gets shot down, your ego doesn't go with it.

Colin Powell

You have to trust in something – your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

Steve Jobs

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do.

Mark Twain

If you listen to your fears, you will die never knowing what a great person you might have been.

Robert H. Schuller

Just because something doesn't do what you planned it to do doesn't mean it's useless.

Thomas Edison

Disneyland is a work of love. We didn't go into Disneyland just with the idea of making money.

Walt Disney

A cardinal principle of Total Quality escapes too many managers: you cannot continuously improve interdependent systems and processes until you progressively perfect interdependent, interpersonal relationships.

Stephen Covey

Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life – think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success.

Swami Vivekananda

If you work just for money, you'll never make it, but if you love what you're doing and you always put the customer first, success will be yours.

Ray Kroc

Business is never so healthy as when, like a chicken, it must do a certain amount of scratching around for what it gets.

Henry Ford

The only place where success comes before work is in the dictionary.

Vidal Sassoon

Rupert Murdoch is one of global business' most divisive figures. The Australian-American magnate inherited the News Limited business in 1952 and turned it into what is now known as News Corporation, the world's second largest media conglomerate. With television stations, publishing houses and newspapers in the UK, Australia, the USA and Papua New Guinea, it is an extraordinarily powerful enterprise that came from humble beginnings. Along with his exorbitant wealth, Murdoch has garnered plenty of criticism and controversy over the years, yet he remains one of the most skilful strategists and canny investors in world business. That makes these quotes from him essential reading for any business person with big ambitions.

In motivating people, you've got to engage their minds and their hearts. I motivate people, I hope, by example - and perhaps by excitement, by having productive ideas to make others feel involved.

Money is not the motivating force. It's nice to have money, but I don't live high. What I enjoy is running the business.

I try to keep in touch with the details... I also look at the product daily. That doesn't mean you interfere, but it's important occasionally to show the ability to be involved. It shows you understand what's happening.

I think a newspaper should be provocative, stir 'em up, but you can't do that on television. It's just not on.

Bury your mistakes.

Advances in the technology of telecommunications have proved an unambiguous threat to totalitarian regimes everywhere.

As an immigrant, I chose to live in America because it is one of the freest and most vibrant nations in the world. And as an immigrant, I feel an obligation to speak up for immigration policies that will keep America the most economically robust, creative and freedom-loving nation in the world.

Somebody talked me into writing an autobiography about six or seven years ago. And I said I'd try. We talked into a tape recorder, and after a couple of months, I said, To hell with it. I was so depressed. It was like saying, 'This is the end.' I was more interested in what the hell was coming the next day or the next week.

News Corp is a global diversified media and information services company focused on creating and distributing authoritative and engaging content to consumers and businesses throughout the world. The company comprises businesses across a range of media, including: news and information services, book publishing, digital real estate services, cable network programming in Australia and pay-TV distribution in Australia.