Data expert Job van den Berg shares tips and tricks for entering data-driven 2023 in a good and smart way as an entrepreneur and thus making a flying start. The end of the year is already in sight. Just a little ‘running fast’ to close the year with a good turnover, perhaps customers will come with last minute requests because they still have to ‘make money’. Then you would almost forget that 2023 is just around the corner and you also have to look ahead: what are we going to do next year?
What objectives do we have? In this blog, data expert Job van den Berg looks at the tools to make the best choices for next year. So run, and then suddenly it’s January and then the plans for 2023 come to execution. And of course you want to grow next year. Data can help you to be better prepared. I would like to share a number of data tips and tricks to start the new year data-driven and to make a flying start in 2023 Click here.
-
First of all – it’s not only about finance : closing the year is 80% finance driven at many companies. Close the books, see if the targets have been met. But look beyond the finance silo: don’t forget to take stock of other areas and close the year from different lenses: customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction, but also economic conditions, media spending and HR developments. What has happened in these areas in the past year? A decrease? A raise?
This broadened scope offers a number of advantages:
-
You judge the year on more than just financial aspects. This will undoubtedly lead to interesting observations, which in turn is useful input for the annual plans and pilgrimage sessions.
-
Finance data is a result of performance on HR, customer satisfaction, employee satisfaction and marketing/media budgets. By also looking at these areas, you get a better grip on the results and the underlying causes. So you can interpret the results better.
-
A second tip: inflation corrections and indexes on hourly rates are the order of the day more than ever. Undoubtedly a topic that is now playing in your MT. The key question is: what percentage will you pass on to your hourly rates and prices? Statistics Netherlands provides insight into inflation indices for both the consumer and business markets. Undoubtedly, your terms and conditions state that you can use those statistics to implement rate changes. But beware, your competitor does this too, so there will be a price spiral to a certain extent anyway: prices are rising and they are passed on.
Here too, an activity such as indexing often has a one-dimensional approach, only economically driven. But also consider other factors. Take customer satisfaction for example. Is it high? Then you have reason to perhaps sit just a little higher. Customers are happy, there is a need – that also determines whether the rate goes up. In short, it’s not only about finance and economics – make strategic choices by looking at multiple data sources.
-
A third tip and perhaps the most important: we are tempted to reinvent everything, but we can learn from similar situations in the past. And the advantage is that you often have data about the past. And we also know that economic developments are cyclical – recessions and growth years alternate. So parallels can be drawn between time periods. In concrete terms: grab data about turnover, customer satisfaction. pricing et cetera of another year that also saw high inflation and fluctuating consumer confidence,
-
Just like what we are dealing with now. How did the choices then affect the financial result? Have a look at correlations: how did the rate increase relate to the financial result and the number of customers served in a comparable period? Was there a strong correlation then? Learn from choices made and also learn from mistakes made in the past so that you can now be better prepare. Data is sometimes also looking backwards in order to learn for the future.
In summary: close the year and start the new year by considering different data perspectives. Not only financial results, but also look at the data that undoubtedly influenced the financial results: think of HR, customer satisfaction, the economy, R&D, marketing and media efforts. The nice thing is that you already have all this data; after all, it is internal data that often concerns organizational performance. Use this data to learn more and make the right decisions to make 2023 a success.
-
-
