Will you have 100% of the information you need to make a business decision all the time?

Not always.

There are times when you’ll have more than you had hoped for and there will be times when it feels you don’t have enough information.

There will be times when you think you have enough information; yet, your decision doesn’t pan out. There will be times when you don’t have a whole lot of information; yet, your decision ends up working out. Sometimes knowing what information is key and relevant is always a great place begin.

How much information is enough information to make a decision?

Jeff Bezo’s 70% rule seems to be a great standard to abide by. For example:

In a 2016 annual shareholder letter, Bezos talked about his approach to decision making. He suggested that while it’s always nice to have access to all of the information someone wants, in the vast majority of cases, waiting until you know everything you should know is a problem.

“Most decisions should probably be made with somewhere around 70 percent of the information you wish you had,” Bezos wrote in the letter. “If you wait for 90 percent, in most cases, you’re probably being slow.”

Ultimately it comes down to faith, but it helps to have about 70% of the information you seek to have before firing off a potentially sabotaging business decision.

To read more about this in depth, visit the entire article at Inc.

How can the 70% rule apply to small business

It’s always critical to know where to look and what tools to use when you are attempting to scout out what information is available for a small business venture. It almost feels like you can’t acquire enough information. Sometimes it can feel like you have too much information.

The quality of information is paramount.

We’ve always recommended that whatever you are doing it’s critical to become somewhat savvy with how the internet has changed the business marketplace.

Many customers are online and will always be online. You must understand this and learn how to acquire these customers.

One fine detail Bezo’s does not discuss is that it’s wise to prepare with relevant information prior to making a key business decision.

If you are just starting out in small business, one surefire way to prepare for your next business venture is to get a firm grasp on how internet traffic works and how you can make it work for you.

You can never go wrong with relevant preparation prior to execution.

If you are just starting up or are struggling as a business, we recommend ordering Traffic Secrets, by Russell Brunson (the book is free).

This book can not only help you prepare; it can also give you a vast understanding of what information may be relevant to you or irrelevant, which of course can only help you make your final decisions.