By Paula Jensen

Intuitive decision making is based on gut feelings, past experiences, and personal judgment. It involves using our instincts and emotions to decide, without relying heavily on data and analysis.

Data-driven decision making is based on objective data and analysis. It involves collecting and analyzing relevant data to identify patterns, trends, and insights, which are then used to make informed decisions.

Let me share a small-town leadership story.

About three years ago, I was in a board meeting with an economic development organization discussing their need to attract workforce for about 90 local job openings. The economic development director shared a couple recent stories about how limited housing stock was a big barrier for attracting more workforce. After a short discussion, one of the board members stated firmly, “I’m a realtor. We do NOT have a housing problem! There are currently twelve homes for sale and multiple apartment vacancies.” At that point, the conversation stopped.

Both people were accurate in their reports, yet in hindsight what was missing from the conversation was some quality secondary data available from their local housing study. The Housing Study, completed by a third-party, stated:

“The community has a stock of older, lower valued homes, of which 59% need minor or major repairs and another 3% are dilapidated. Our analysis of sales activity indicates that approximately 50% of the homes are valued less than $75,750. As some lower valued homes come up for sale, they may not be attractive options for potential home buyers because of the amount of repair work that is required.” In addition, the housing study recommended, “approximately 10 to 15 additional rental units will be needed over the next five years to replace lost units. This replacement is appropriate due to the deteriorating condition of older, substandard rental housing that should be removed from the occupied stock.”

Data can open conversation to new possibilities

In the story above, the economic development director’s intuition was indicating that housing was a strong barrier to workforce attraction. But imagine if that intuition had been backed up with the data from the housing study? That data could have opened the conversation about quality housing being the issue, not the number available units.

I am happy to report, three years after this initial conversation the economic development organization is using intuition (knowing their community) and data (their updated housing study) to move toward solutions that will ultimately address the housing quality issue and attract workforce.

Combining the two approaches of intuitive and data-driven decision making can be very powerful. Intuition can provide a valuable starting point, helping decision makers to identify potential options and narrow down choices. Data analysis can then be used to validate and support these options, providing objective evidence to back up intuitive decisions.

By uncovering the story told by the data, it can also help us see patterns, understand the meaning behind the data, and become more proactive rather than being reactionary to issues as they pop up.

Ultimately, the best approach will depend on the specific situation and the decision being made. In some cases, intuition may be more important, while in others, data may be the key factor. The most effective decision makers can balance both approaches, using intuition to guide them, and data to validate and support their decisions.

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To find out what rural people felt were their biggest challenges, SaveYour.Town and SmallBizSurvival.com surveyed over 280 rural people in the fourth quarter of 2020. The results make up this fourth edition of the Survey of Rural Challenges.

Challenges stemming from the pandemic and economic crisis were ranked as less important than long-existing rural challenges.

Continuing challenges with losses in housing, business and population ranked as the highest rural community challenges. The ongoing lack of workers, stiff competition from online businesses, and marketing ranked as the highest challenge to rural small businesses.

Other preconception-changing results

Defying stereotyped media profiles of poverty, crime and drug abuse as the primary rural challenges, rural people ranked these lowest of all community challenges.

Although rural economic development often centers around jobs, it was one of the least-mentioned challenges in this survey.

For all the concern over small business lending, rural people say usable buildings are as hard or harder to find than loans.

Rural small business owners show little interest in business plan assistance, yet it remains a popular type of assistance offered to rural businesses.

More rural people said they needed an idea for a business to start than said they were worried their business would fail.

Rural Community Challenges ranked

The pandemic and economic crisis not only did not dominate the responses, but it also did not rank in the top ten challenges.

Housing, business and population losses continue to rank as the highest rural community challenges.

The top five rural community challenges in 2021 were:

1. Not enough good housing
2. Downtown is dead
3. Losing young people
4. Need new residents
5. Not enough volunteers

Small-town Business Challenges ranked

The lack of workers and difficulties with marketing continue to challenge rural small businesses.

Online competition continued to increase pressure on rural small businesses, climbing to the second-highest ranking challenge.

Despite the pandemic and economic crisis, rural business owners ranked the likelihood of business failure and the inability to find a business loan as some of the lowest of all listed challenges.

Crisis relief loan packages may have played a role in supporting small businesses in late 2020 as this survey was being conducted. On previous surveys, inability to find a business loan scored from the middle to low: ranging from sixth to ninth of the eleven listed challenges, before dropping to eleventh this time.

The top five challenges ranked by rural small businesses were:

1. Can’t find good employees
2. Online competition
3. Tried later hours without success
4. Marketing isn’t working
5. Need to sell my business

Get the in-depth report on the 2021 results of the Survey

See analysis of all four rounds of the Survey of Rural Challenges

Join me for the Rural Renewal Symposium hosted by Oklahoma State University. It’s an online event on October 13, 2020.

What is the Symposium about?

The Symposium is meant to raise awareness, attract resources and stimulate research toward solving grand challenges facing rural communities. And goodness knows we have some grand challenges.

I’ll be facilitating two community round table discussions where you can share your challenges, opportunities and success stories. 

Who can participate?

Yes, Oklahoma State faculty and students will participate, but it’s open to all of us. Rural community members from across the U.S. and around the world are invited to connect  and learn about the latest discoveries, trends and approaches for rural renewal.

Corporate partners, non-profit organizations, government and tribal leaders, and anyone with a passion for rural people and places are invited to participate. I think I fall into the “anyone with a passion for rural” category.

What will the event be like?

There will be invited speakers, oral and poster presentations by researchers, round table discussions for community leaders, networking opportunities, and award presentations.

The students from the Rural Scholars program will describe their studies and present the findings of their work in actual rural communities. Their projects include deconstruction (how best to remove dilapidated structures) and comparing ag technology between rural Oklahoma and rural China.

Other speakers will cover rural issues including:

• broadband access
• health systems
• water resources
• infrastructure and economic development
• education and youth leadership development

What virtual platform will it use?

The event is using Whova and Zoom. I just participated in another event using this same setup, and it’s user friendly. Here’s a screenshot of a discussion session from that event:

This was the SMTulsa conference on the Whova platform with Zoom streaming. It made it easy to connect for group discussions and speaker presentations.

You don’t need a Zoom account to participate.

How much does it cost and where do we register?

You are invited to register and join the Symposium no matter where you live. I’d love to see you at the community round tables!

The cost is US$25. 

The schedule is online, and you can register for the Symposium here.

Photo (CC) by One Way Stock, on Flickr

Knowing what your customer wants is the base to building a successful business.

Of course, you still must meet that need, let customers know you have what they want, and price it at a level that customers feel is acceptable. But the process begin with knowing the problem they are trying to solve.

Market research is how to get the answer to this question.

Small-business owners need to use market research. When doing so, they also need to remember that all customers are not the same and that desires change through time.

Examining and understanding each part of the demand for a business’ services and products will help the owner be far more precise in understanding and planning how to meet the demand. Just like owners know that customers have a variety of responses in terms of acceptable prices, customers vary in the specifics of what they want.

To understand the idea of market research better, let’s look at food-related businesses.

People need food to sustain themselves. Thus, the need is very basic. Yet the demands for food can take a variety of paths, which offers business owners various opportunities.

When thinking of the opportunities, an owner might begin with the foods your customer grew up with in terms of heritage, culture and local offerings. This is only the beginning today, however. Now some people want to experience new things. Others would like to do it themselves, while some want the foods already prepared. Of those who want it prepared, some want to do the final cooking at home, while others will get it from a full-service restaurant.

So one desire can turn out to be multiple desires and multiple opportunities for a business. This does not even take into account the fact that for customers, the choices aren’t an either/or but are somewhere on a continuum. 

As a market researcher, you shouldn’t stop there. You have individuals who need certain specific diets and others who just desire such a diet. You also have people who want the items grown locally and those who are happy to accept getting what they want from whatever source that will provide it.

Market research can find these niches. Each one may (emphasize the “may”) be an opportunity for a small business or a new line for an existing business. Knowing what the customer wants may not tell you a specific business to start. You still need to determine which of the opportunities is the best for you. 

Market research is not a one-time task, though. Times change, people change and our worldview changes. People age and travel, and technology brings new ideas. Thus, an opportunity today might not be there in five or 10 years. Look at restaurants that come and go. Think back to what grocery stores offered 10 years ago to what they offer today. Or go to a different region of the country and see how a grocery store’s offerings differ just based on regional differences.

Being successful in business means knowing what the customer wants. Knowing what your customer wants comes from ongoing market research.