Understand your data needs

If you are an entrepreneur or the leader of a small- to medium-sized business and you are wondering if you need data/analytics/insights for your growth strategy, you can use these questions to inform your answer.

What are your immediate growth priorities?
Think about your growth strategies; are you looking to be listed with more retailers, are you looking to grow by launching a new product or increasing the turnover with your existing distribution channels? Ask yourself how confident you are with those decisions. Are they bold enough?

Why did your growth stop?
If you saw a drop in your sales, do you know what caused it? Things that could play a role are seasonality, changes in consumer behaviors that impact the category, realities that impact the entire market, or actions from your competitors that are impacting your business. Do you know if you are experiencing “just a bump” or an ongoing trend?

Are your investors and retail partners happy with the updates you’re giving them?
Your time is valuable, as is the time of your partners. Think about your last meeting with them. Was it productive and did you achieve what you planned to achieve, like additional investment for your growth strategy or more shelf space for your products? Or were there decisions that couldn’t be made, because you didn’t have all the information you needed?

How much do you know about your performance, the performance of your immediate competitors and the market at large?
Most businesses have a good understanding of their direct sales, but the clarity ends there — but knowledge of how you’re performing relative to the rest of the market is essential for growth. How do you know what is happening in your market? And how reliable is that information?

Whether these questions made you feel confident, uneasy, or just left you with more questions, our NielsenIQ experts are happy to provide answers and guidance on the next steps of your data journey.