What Does all This Statistical Data Mean? « UseMyStats

Making sense of statistics can make or break a business. If a certain set of data is misinterpreted or a problem is not identified in time, a business can suffer. On the other hand, a missed opportunity can mean missed business.

For example, after tracking some stats, you notice a trend: when you send out a postcard to people who live near your business, you see an uptick in sales four weeks later. This happens consistently each time you send one out. Armed with this knowledge, you can estimate that sending out a postcard again should increase sales four weeks later.  

That’s not the whole picture, though. It doesn’t take into account the hours that you needed to staff. It doesn’t take into consideration the costs associated with sending out the postcards. The best way to see the big picture is to track multiple stats and compare graphs over time. If you notice that you spend more on wages than you bring in with the increase in sales, sending out postcards may not make much business sense for you. You wouldn’t know this unless you were tracking multiple stats.

There are many different business decisions  that can be drawn from statistics. For example, say you notice you’re spending a lot more on production than you were a few months ago. With your graph showing the cost of production over time, you can see the amount you spend is growing steadily.

This could be alarming initially. “Why am I spending so much on production now?!” You could have many questions, and fortunately for you, you have graphs from other areas of your business, like sales. Your sales graph shows that income has been increasing, too, so your initial view can change from “What is going on?!” to “How do we keep this up?!”

With those two  graphs (and many others!) to compare, you get a clearer overview of what’s happening in all aspects of your business. Statistics give you raw, objective data, unclouded by emotion. With the right information, you can identify opportunities and continue to grow your business. Use My Stats gives you all the data you need in one place.

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