I had lunch with the owner/operator of my neighborhood Chick-fil-A yesterday and asked how his business was going. He told me it was well and gestured towards the floor. I thought he was showing off the new tile in his recently renovated franchise but he quickly corrected me and pointed out the dirt on the floor.
“Contractors order up-sized combination meals and large drinks.” And the uptick in commercial and residential construction near his location meant more construction workers were depending upon him for lunch.
Who’d have thought that mud on the floor was a positive economic indicator but apparently for this franchisee, what I saw as simply soil had a much greater value than its mineral content.
Reflecting on your own business, what less than obvious occurrences are a positive economic indicator? And how you does your marketing team monitor them, influence them and capitalize on them when the time is right?