Ryan Townend (from William Joseph Communications) published a great post on LinkedIn.
He covers a number of great points:
Do I go full throttle before everyone goes off for summer vacation or will people work through this summer[…]
Business is predictably cyclical, although we don’t know yet if those cycles will continue post-COVID. There’s going to be some tough decisions around relying on the established business & economic cycles. Successful businesses will collect the data to make the right decisions and recover more quickly. Imagine this scenario: you have data from the past 5 years showing the exact date (or maybe its weather related) when people start shutting down for summer vacation. With that data you will know within 1-2 days if people are shutting down this year as they have in the past.For marketers this is really tricky as we live and work in the future.
Many businesses work in some form the future. Restaurants need to order based on anticipated demand, manufacturers need to order raw materials, and marketing needs to plan/design/build/buy far in advance. Understanding the past through data collection and easy analysis improves the accuracy of future predictions.Uncertainty can cause paralysis.
While running around like a chicken with its head cut off isn’t ideal neither is doing nothing. Every business owner needs to strike the right balance.You need to [..] be ready to pivot on a dime.
One of the many competitive advantages small business has over their larger competitors is the ability to pivot more quickly and at less cost. While recessions are extremely tough & stressful it is also a very good time to leverage every competitive advantage you’ve got.It’s like driving in fog. We can only see what’s right in front of us[…]
Here’s the funny thing, data can be your fog lights; it won’t get rid of the fog but it can improve your vision forward. Having fog lights will make you a better, safer driver than those without fog lights. Having data will make you a better, safer business than your competitors.