PPB August 2018

FEATURE | Data Analytics Creating Lightbulb Moments Using Your Own Data by Rick Brenner, MAS+ T ry this exercise: Think of all the metrics you rely on every day to run your business profitably—order count, cash on hand, total sales, accounts receivable collections, loan balance, payroll, sales by product line, order backlog, actual vs budget, year to date actuals vs the previous year, etc. Whether you use an executive dashboard system, computer generated reports or some other system, every successful business has some process in place to monitor these key financial indicators. Next, think about the information you would like to have but are not getting in any of your reports. These are the numbers you don’t know—and it’s driving you crazy because you know they affect your sales and performance and cost you money, but you can’t put your finger on exactly what or why. I’m talking about knowable unknowns— meaningful, actionable information you could access or capture and evaluate, but you don’t. The challenge of knowable unknowns is not a new business problem. data visual ization 52 | AUGUST 2018 |