Business insights are underrated! Sure, we all collect a few at random as we burn through our business life, but there is actually a valuable methodology for gaining insights that will make your business better!
I am not talking about boring informational insights you might get from reading a blog or something – these are real insights about your specific business you can act on as soon as you learn them.
A good insight is a complete unknown until you actually do something to uncover it.
The Business Insight I discovered today is: _________________________________
Here’s how to fill in the blank:
- Decide you want to learn something new about your business. If you think you already know everything, you can stop right here and type “nothing” in the blank space.
- Set up an experiment to test an assumption. Your customers are always a good place to look for new insights. For example, maybe you aren’t sure whether your current guarantee is any good. You could set up the experiment by making the assumption: “Our guarantee is a big reason why our customers do business with us.”
- Now call or visit five good customers and ask them about your guarantee. Ask them about competitors’ guarantees. Ask them about their own guarantee if they have a business. Ask them whom they think has the best guarantee!
- Be really curious. There is a process called the “5 why’s” which is great to take a conversation deeper. You simply ask “why” five times for the same question until you get as deep as you can on the topic.
- Make a short written summary of every conversation.
- Now review your conversations and look for a key insight. It is very probable the insight will not be on the original experiment. Those are the best insights!
In summary:
- Be open to listen and learn
- Be methodical and actually do an experiment
- Be curious
- Fill in the blank
The key insight I learned is “________________________________”
Here is an insight I have learned about obtaining insights.:
The more methodical and scientific you can be about testing what seems like ‘no brainer assumptions’ about your business model, the more you learn.
Like any new skill, it takes practice to get any good at it. But when I think about it, isn’t this what a business owner should be doing on a regular basis?
