Use data to make good decisions for your business.

Most organizations have an overwhelming amount of data that is mostly useless. This can be due to various reasons like poor data structure, tedious reporting outputs that require lots of manual manipulation to gain insights, or incorrect initial setup (garbage in, garbage out). Whatever the root cause, you can and should identify your key objectives and goals, then align your data to inform your progress on those goals, and finally develop processes and templates to automate reporting as much as possible.

Data → Reports → Goals

Building this discipline will enable you to make data-informed decisions to supplement your instincts and make confident business decisions.

Recommended tools

• Each business will have its own software tools that may provide reporting; make sure you’re leveraging the tools you’re already paying for to get the insights you need.
• When software fails, Excel or Google Sheets are excellent options for building custom reports and dashboards.
• Financial metrics can be extracted from accounting software (like QuickBooks or Xero) and reported with tools like Fathom (link), which also enable you to build custom KPI dashboards.
• Build SOPs (standard operating procedures) to make it easy to follow and update KPIs in a timely and efficient manner. Use tools like Loom (link) or Scribe (link) for SOP development and enrichment.

Process

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