The Data Driven Small Business

Data in Consulting: Paralegal Pros, Inc.

Although not as successful as hoped but more successful than realistically expected, Paralegal Pros, Inc. (hereinafter alternatively “the company’) has managed to move into phase two of its project plan, hiring two part-time certified paralegals and assigning them to their respective areas of specialty (i.e., bankruptcy and immigration) as consultants for local law firms. The purpose of this paper is to continue with the ongoing Paralegal Pros, Inc. consulting project, describing the type of data that will be relevant the phase two as well as succeeding phases. In addition, an explanation concerning the most effective strategies that can be used to obtain relevant data for this purpose is followed by an explanation concerning how the data will be organized. Finally, the paper presents a summary of the status of the ongoing paralegal consultancy project plan in the conclusion.

Description of the type of data that will be relevant to the project

First and foremost, it is vitally important for small business owners to know where their income is coming from as well as where their money is going on a regular basis (Bhardwaj, 2022). Therefore, the company’s income statement will serve as a useful barometer to assess its profitability and to determine what changes, if any, may be needed to increase revenues. This data will also be needed to determine when the company is best situated financially to move on to phase three in its project plan.

In addition, in order to ensure the effectiveness of the company’s Web site and social media platforms, data concerning the number of visitors and the percentage of contacts that are generated from these visitors will also be collected. This data-collection strategy is consistent with the guidance that is provided by Lányi and his associates (2021) who emphasize that, “Company websites are more related to marketing functions than information technology from the point of competitiveness” (p. 477). Likewise, the same type of quantitative data will be collected concerning responses to email promotional campaigns to determine where responses are coming from, what they concern, whether responses were required and if the communications ultimately generated new revenues.

Other data that will be relevant to the project include what areas of paralegal specialization are most often requested by the company’s current clientele as well as from prospective clients. This data is similar to the above-described data concerning where the major sources of the company’s revenues, but these data will provide specific feedback about what paralegal services are most in demand to determine if the employment of additional part- or full-time certified paralegals is warranted. In addition, it will also be important for the company to regularly assess the prevailing wages for certified paralegals at the local and regional levels to determine whether increases in salaries are needed to continue to attract and retain the types of motivated, talented individuals that have fueled the company’s success to date.

Finally, the company will collect Likert-scaled ratings from clients using a feedback form following each assignment concerning the performance of their assigned paralegal, including the owner, to determine whether pay increases and/or other rewards are justified for top performers or if counseling or termination is needed for suboptimal performance. Because the labor market in general is tight and especially challenging for specialty occupations, this data will provide a valuable and timely indication concerning the respective contributions of each of the company’s employees. Given the limited number of employees during phase two, it will be absolutely essential to ensure that everyone is pulling their share of the weight towards moving into phase three of the project plan.

Explanation concerning the most effective strategies to obtain relevant data

The data that are required for the company’s income statement will be collected from its receipts and disbursements, including all wages and benefits paid. Web site and social media platform hosts provide data analytic services which can provide the types of information that are needed to evaluate their effectiveness. The data that are needed to determine which areas of specialization are in highest demand will be collected using an Excel spreadsheet with manual data input by the owner. Likewise, the quantitative Likert-scaled client ratings for each assigned paralegal (again, including the owner) will be extracted from the feedback forms and the data plugged into an Excel spreadsheet for further analysis and graphic representation to identify important trends.

Explanation concerning how the data will be organized

All of the above-described data will be collected and organized in Excel spreadsheets maintained on the owner’s personal computer. In addition, given its importance to the operation and sustainability of the company, it will be important to ensure that all data is backed-up in a secure location (Fazal et al., 2022). While the above-described data is readily available, the collection and data analysis processes remain labor-intensive. Therefore, once the company becomes sufficiently profitable, however, it will invest in a data analytics program designed specifically for micro and small business operations to facilitate that data collection and analysis process.