Businesses solve tons of core problems everyday, such as PnL, inventory management, marketing optimization, and revenue growth, using mental blueprints developed over years of experience. If we deconstruct these blueprints, a framework of questions emerges, starting with “What’s going on in my business?” and moving to “Why is this happening?” before concluding with “How do I fix it?”
In essence, frameworks transform intuitive problem-solving into repeatable methodologies.
A real-life example
Let’s see how structured problem-solving works in action using one of these frameworks.
John, who is the Head of Growth at a DTC online brand, notices a significant drop in weekly revenue.
While he knows the dashboard has provided a surface glimpse of “What's happening in the business,” he also understands that this is just the tip of the iceberg. Beneath the “What” lies a series of questions that he needs to find answers to before he can get to the root cause and start taking corrective action.
So, he dives into the “Why” behind the drop ...
Drawing from years of experience, John deconstructs the revenue by examining two key components: orders and basket size. However, he needs someone with knowledge of SQL and database schemas to navigate this journey. So, he calls in Suzy, one of their senior analysts, to help him.
Together, they break down the problem into its fundamental components and discover that, while the average basket size remained consistent week on week, the number of orders has taken a noticeable tumble.
John and Suzy now focus on examining the drivers of orders—visitors and conversion rates. They dissect each element across various dimensions: customer cohorts, cities, and even different app versions.
As they delve deeper into the data, they discover an alarming insight: while the overall conversion rate remains steady at around 5%, it has plummeted to a concerning 1.5% in Utah. This observation leads them further down the rabbit hole.
With Utah’s conversion rate as the center of attention, John and Suzy methodically investigate the factors that might be influencing this sharp decline. They consider variables such as pricing adjustments, product availability, and delivery promise times.
Through meticulous analysis, they deduce that a pricing hiccup in Utah is the root cause affecting the conversion rate, leading to the revenue drop.
Armed with this newfound insight, John springs into action to fix the problem.
He liaises with his Utah manager to rectify the pricing issue promptly and orchestrates notifications to be sent to relevant customers to reengage and reactivate them.
The challenges in deciphering the “Why”
While these frameworks might not sound like rocket science, businesses need to navigate them everyday for the innumerable numbers of problems that they solve. And while they are experts at identifying the “What” and executing the “How,” the “Why” phase can feel like diving into a rabbit hole of repetitive questions everyday.
It requires a combination of business context and SQL manipulations across different aspects.
Business professionals lack the time to navigate this intricate process. Even analysts, while proficient, may find it a mundane task of SQL manipulation, lacking opportunities for growth and upskilling.
So, the question arises: Are there alternative approaches? Can we break free from this cycle?
The answer is yes.
The future of business analysis
With the evolution of AI and LLMs, GobbleCube is redefining how businesses will analyze day-to-day problems. GobbleCube abstracts and expedites the “Why” for us, so we can confidently focus on executing the “How” and creating business impact. We will talk about it more in our next blog here.
If you're interested in exploring these possibilities, reach out to us!
