Running a successful business takes time and patience, and certainly doesn’t happen overnight. But one thing that all thriving companies have in common is how they prioritize the collection and analysis of data.
Data comes in all shapesand sizes and can be used in a variety of ways to help a business succeed. Byhelping to improve decision making, providing a better understanding ofcustomers, and advancing operations, data collection can be a critical part ofthe growth of your organization.
Here are some examplesof the data types that should matter the most to you and your business.
Analyzing and ComparingMarkets
It doesn’t matter howgreat the product or service you’re selling is — if the market isn’t primed foryou to be successful, or you aren’t following trends the right way, you’ll findthe road to business success will be much more challenging than you had hoped.This is where the benefit of analyzing and comparing market data comes in.
Take the real estatemarket, for example. In commercial real estate, the value of a property is notdecided merely based on how much the buildings cost to construct. There areseveral variables involved with real estate values, including vacancy rates,the price per square feet, transit walking scores, and local economies in thearea. Ignoring these data sets can lead developers and business owners intomaking poor decisions on the properties they acquire and the locations theychoose to be in. On the other hand, real estate owners who intelligentlycollect and analyze this data ahead of time are typically much more successfullong-term.
Competitive Research
Once you’ve researchedyour target market and have done the necessary work to conceptualize a newproduct design, bringing it to life for your customer base can be both anexciting and stressful time. However, before you begin the manufacturingprocess and start distributing new products to your partner base, it’s vitalthat you clearly understand design patent laws and ensure you aren’t infringing on another person’sdesign.
Doing adequatecompetitor research isn’t just about learning the price points of the productsor services they offer. Thorough competitor analysis — especially when yourcompetition has similar products — can help you ensure you’re meeting all legalrequirements when bringing your product to market and will keep your businesssafe from any legal action down the road.
Understanding Your KeyStakeholders
Understanding theexternal factors that affect your business is an essential aspect of growingyour organization successfully. However, there are other considerations wheredata collection can help you develop your business internally by focusing on stakeholder approval and buy-in. Stakeholders are an important part of everybusiness, but many times they can be viewed as potential roadblocks to newerinvestments and expansions. By analyzing your stakeholders and understandingthe critical steps necessary to get their buy-in, you’ll be able to gathertheir critical input while also building trust in the future decisions youmake.
Preferred Payment Types
Creating positive user experiences has become an essential part of building a brand thatcustomers keep returning to. From start to finish, business owners need todevelop a strong understanding of the things that matter most for theircustomer base and subsequently work to implement them effectively. One of thoseconsiderations is how difficult or easy it is for customers to purchase yourproducts and services.
Easy access to smartphones and tablets has completely changed how modern-day consumers source and purchase their products. Businesses should be actively monitoring their e-commerce platforms to get a better understanding of how their customers prefer to shop and make changes to their operations to support as needed. As this data is collected, strategic decisions can be made regarding the best third-party solutions and integrations to use in support of seamless mobile shopping experience and smart checkout services.
Revenue andProfitability
Of course, one of themost important types of data you should be collecting and analyzing regularlyis your revenue streams and how they respond to changing conditions. However,every successful business needs to balance both revenue and profitability wheninvesting in new avenues of growth while ensuring long-term sustainability.
It’s essential tocollect and monitor the revenue and profitability of your business separately.While gross revenue by itself may be an identifier that your business is movingin the right direction, without measuring profitability, you could be puttingyourself and your business in a compromising position. This is especially thecase if you don’t take into consideration all of the necessary operating costs,as well as business tax requirements, security expenses, and other annualinvestments. Actively measuring both the revenue and profitability of yourbusiness and creating key performance indicators around the data sets willensure you’re seeing the right amount of growth over time with sustainablemargins to support it.
Regardless of theinvestments you make to grow your business, without data insights, you have noway of knowing if the decisions you make are moving your company forward orsetting you back. But by taking the time to analyze essential market conditionsand how they can impact your revenue and profitability, you’ll improve yourbusiness’s chance for success now and in the future.
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