Evidence Based Business Advice and Decision Making

In the medical world doctors make diagnoses and provide treatments based upon sound evidence founded on scientific research. In the business world consultants peddle advice and potions based upon often flaky 'research' conducted on a few people, if at all. Businesses buy the advice then wonder why it doesn't work!

For example, when I carried out my Entrecode research into how entrepreneurs start and grow successful businesses we correlated our findings with over 400 business's performance over a 10 year period. In conducting this research I discovered less than 10% of 'studies' of entrepreneurial behaviour has any correlation with business performance at all. Its just somebody's opinion......

So here is my advice. If you intend to get somebody to advise you on your business ask them what the evidence base is for their proposal and check the science underpinning it. Too much business consultancy is frankly smoke and mirrors and it may be doing more harm than good to many organisations.