Stating the Business Problem

The first step is to carefully define the problem and decide how to use data mining to solve it.

Ensure that you understand both the problem to be solved and what the desired outcome is. The outcome may be very specific, such as "reduce customer attrition by 25%," or it may be less specific, such as "explain why customers attrite."

You should also understand what data is available and if the data supports solving the problem.