Four Steps for Cleaning the Right Business Data

I enjoy cleaning data.  It’s like a runner’s high for me.  But business isn’t about enjoyment. Hobbies and vacations are about enjoyment. Business is about producing.  

When it comes to cleaning data, I’ve found only about 20% of it needs to be exactly right (don’t forget my 80/20 Magic post https://itmentalist.wordpress.com/wp-admin/post.php?post=410&action=edit).

Following are my four steps to determine what 20% of my data needs to be exactly right.

1. I design my business strategy.  I take time to understand my target market, my potential customers, my strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.  I know I can change my strategy later but for now I write it down and share it. 

2. After I know my strategy, I ask what I need to be successful (critical success factors).  Then I ask what can go wrong (barriers to success).  

3. When I have the top 5 critical success factors and barriers to success, I know what I need employees, products, processes, and money to do or not do.  I call these my business activities.

4. Then I figure out ways to measure the results of these activities. Even if I don’t have the data right now, even if my data isn’t currently accurate, I figure out how I can measure these 10 activities. I write this down and share it.

NOW I know what data I need. I clean the data that supports measuring my 10 critical activities. And I leave the rest of the cleaning for a later date, or for vacation, or for never!