Data that decides: why every company (yes, even small ones) should make strategy with data
A Familiar Problem Every Business Owner Knows
Running a business often means juggling choices with incomplete information. Imagine you own a small café. Every week, you face the same question: how much coffee, milk, and pastries should I order?
At first, it seems simple:
Last week you sold 300 cups of coffee, so you order the same again.
But then reality adds layers:
Sales jump on rainy days, but fall sharply in heatwaves.
Fridays are always busier than Mondays.
There’s a local event coming next week — will that mean 50 more customers, or 200?
Some customers switch from cappuccinos to iced lattes when the temperature rises, changing how much milk you’ll actually need.
Suddenly the “just order the same as last week” approach doesn’t cut it anymore. Order too much, and milk goes sour on the shelf, wasted money. Order too little, and you run out of croissants at 9:30am, lost revenue and disappointed customers.
Most entrepreneurs solve this with experience and intuition. And that works, up to a point. But once you layer in weather, weekday patterns, local events, and shifting customer tastes, it becomes obvious that no human mind can keep all these moving parts straight at once.
Here’s the twist: you already have the data you need. Your cash register logs every sale. You can see how many cappuccinos sold on rainy Tuesdays compared to sunny ones, or how croissant sales spike before payday weekends. That’s not abstract “big data”, it’s your own daily sales receipts.
By looking at those numbers systematically, even with a simple spreadsheet, you could predict orders more accurately, waste less, and never miss out on sales because the pastries ran out too soon.
And yet, according to Statistics Finland, only 41% of companies in Finland used data analytics in 2023, and just 32% had staff doing it in-house.
That means almost 6 out of 10 companies are still trying to make these decisions with guesswork.
From Numbers to Action: The Loyalty Card Example
Let’s take a step further. Many cafés nowadays offer some version of the “buy 9 coffees, get the 10th free” loyalty card. At first glance, that feels like a smart move. Customers love freebies, right?
But let’s pause: why does a café owner actually do this?
If you’re the only café within 20 minutes, people will come to you anyway. In that case, giving away free coffee isn’t really winning you more customers, you’re just giving away part of your profit. Then again, one could assume that the loyalty card might actually encourage someone to leave home and come get coffee in the first place. So it could drive extra sales, too. In other words, the answer isn’t as clear as it may seem at first.
So how do you know if it’s worth it? This is where data comes in. Imagine checking your sales numbers from before and after starting the loyalty program:
Did more customers walk in after you introduced it?
Did the same customers start coming back more often?
When loyalty card holders come in, do they only take the free coffee, or do they also grab a sandwich, a slice of cake, or an extra espresso shot?
And collecting this data doesn’t need to be complicated. It could be as simple as adding a new product type in your cash register called “loyalty coffee.” That way, you can easily track how many free coffees were given out compared to normal ones.
Now, here’s another hidden effect: loyalty cards can make your business more predictable. Think of it this way: if your café just has an open door, no ads, no signs, no loyalty program, then who shows up on a Tuesday morning is almost random. Maybe ten people walk in, maybe two, maybe none. That makes planning almost impossible.
Let’s break down that “randomness.” For someone to walk into your café without any signals, a whole chain of decisions has to line up:
They must want a coffee at that moment.
They must choose to go out for coffee instead of making it at home or at the office.
They must happen to walk down your street.
And finally, they must notice your café and decide to step in.
Miss any step in that chain, and the customer doesn’t show up. That’s why sales can feel like they’re swinging up and down with no rhyme or reason.
But with a sign outside, or an ad, or a loyalty card, you’re removing one or more of those “ifs.” Instead of four hurdles, maybe there are only two. The fewer hurdles there are, the more stable your customer flow becomes, and the easier it is to plan things like staffing, ordering milk, and baking the right number of croissants.
That’s the key point: data turns messy guesswork into clear guidance.
Why Data-Driven Decisions Make All the Difference
We've explored how data can transform everyday business decisions — from predicting sales to evaluating the impact of loyalty programs. But does it really make a difference in the long run?
The answer is a resounding yes. Studies consistently show that companies leveraging data outperform their competitors in several key areas:
Profitability: Businesses using advanced analytics report 8% higher profits and are three times more likely to outperform their competitors in financial metrics. brainforge.ai
Revenue Growth: Companies utilizing data tools for decision-making are 58% more likely to achieve revenue goals and 162% more likely to surpass them. sharpgrid.com
Customer Acquisition: Data-driven organizations are 23 times more likely to acquire customers and 19 times more likely to be profitable. NEXTANT
Operational Efficiency: Data analytics helps identify bottlenecks and inefficiencies, leading to streamlined operations and reduced costs. itsasap.com
These numbers show that data isn’t just another cost or extra work, when used well, it actually improves results, helps you avoid mistakes, and saves you time.
If you’re curious about making smarter decisions with the information you already have, or want to see how small changes can make a big difference for your business, get in touch with Swobuzo using the form below. We’ll help you turn your everyday data into actions that actually pay off.