Running a business means making decisions. Whatever industry the business is in, when you’re in charge, the task is the same: you have to look at the challenges in front of you and the resources you have available and make smart use of the resources to face those challenges in the most constructive way possible.
Anything that could give you a better insight into how to get the most back out of the resources you invest is worth considering. Today we’re taking a look at some of the tools available to business owners to help them make good decisions for their brand.
Market Research Data
One of the most important things you can do to improve your decision-making process is inject it with data – hard figures, and the insights derived from them give you a firm foundation of fact on which to build your plans. With good data you can model the outcome of your decisions and try to ensure you are picking the very best of the options available to you.
An important tool market researchers can give you is a brand tracking survey. This asks customers to rate your brand for the key characteristics that drive success in your industry, alongside the other brands you’re competing with. This gives you a high-level overview into how your brand fits into the market place, who’s making mistakes you need to avoid, and who’s generating momentum.
Internal Monitoring
It’s also vital to be aware of business’ own performance: your capacity to take on new work is not limitless and knowing just what the people working for you can do for you is something many business owners are surprisingly underinformed about.
Careful monitoring of your own business tells you whether your employees are over-worked, at capacity or able to take on more. It allows you to give accurate estimates of when you can complete work by, and whether that’s for the benefit of a potential client or an internal project it, accuracy avoids potentially disastrous disappointment down the line.
A Professional Network
One of the most important things in any decision-making process is having someone to reality check your ideas. It can be difficult, as a CEO or founder, to find someone who works for you who can act as a trusted peer and give honest feedback on your plans. In many cases, employees may defer to you as the person who is ultimately in charge, regardless of their misgivings.
Building a professional network means you have people to sound out at the same level as yourself: peers who respect you but also have nothing to lose by disagreeing with your vision. This can be the important test your decisions need before you take action on them: if your plans can survive questioning by an informed professional in your field who doesn’t have an interest in their success, you can feel confident about them!