It was a dark and stormy night, and somewhere, someone was running a small business without the data they desperately needed…

This Halloween, forget the scary movies and tune into these true stories from business owners who thought they could run their company without data insights—until it was nearly too late! You’ll read tales of horror about stolen equipment, drivers no one could ever track down, and shipments that seemed to lurk in the dark. Enter into this terrifying nightmare if you dare—because when it comes to running your business, there’s nothing more frightening than the unknown.

The Legend of the Unpredictable Beer Deliveries

Nestled in the desert-scaped mountains of Carson City, Nevada, Capital Beverages was the sort of business many people can appreciate: a regional beer distributor. In most places, the sight of beer trucks and vans pulling into the parking lots of local watering holes would be a welcome reprieve from the monotony of daily existence—but not so for the customers of this distributor! Much to the horror of Capital Beverages, their business wasn’t set up to succeed and provide customer satisfaction in the midst of what fate had dealt them in that vast, arid abyss.

The mountainous routes wound up and down treacherous passes few would dare enter, save the brave beer delivery drivers of Capital Beverages! As they traversed through the wilderness, every twist and turn taking their trucks farther from civilization and reliable cellular reception, the drivers were truly on their own. With irregular means of communication and cell towers few and far between, the drivers had no way to pick up the phone when the boss called to check in—much less the ability to call expectant customers with delivery updates!

The local townspeople were angry about being left in the dark with no way to know where trucks were located and when to expect those cool, crisp cases of aluminum-swaddled ambrosia. And with a fleet of 10 vans and 6 trucks, who could expect Capital Beverages to conquer these large, geographical challenges with limited technology? It was a feat mere mortals could only hope to overcome!

As if the dread of certain customer dissatisfaction weren’t enough to keep these business owners up at night, their fears compounded minute by minute, building up to a cacophonous thumping of the heartbeat as they discovered more problems: those routes through the wilderness weren’t optimized for shorter travel times; their drivers could be dangerously speeding to make up for lost time; and they couldn’t verify that past deliveries had been made! Falling to their knees in a fit of terror, the business owners cried, “If only we had the data!”

Are you brave enough to see how the story ends?

The Mystery of the Stolen Assets

This next tale is so chilling, the business at the center of the mystery wishes to remain nameless—and we don’t blame them. If we had been through what this business has been through, we would never wish to utter a word of it again! The problem? Well, it’s every business owner’s worst nightmare: theft!

A certain ordinary, hapless business decided to rent out bicycles and scooters to members of the public—a delightful micromobility enterprise that helped people get from point A to point B. “We’ve safeguarded our assets!” they thought, pointing to the primary GPS system installed on each bike and scooter. But the owners never could have imagined what liabilities lurked around every corner, operating under the cover of darkness as the crepuscular dim of sunset gave way to the all-enveloping cloak for thievery—the witching hour, when those who are up to no good come out to destroy for sport!

The numbers didn’t lie: bikes and scooters went missing in increasing quantities. And what about the safeguards the business had employed? Night after night, they were foiled again! Thieves were disabling and removing the company’s GPS system, rendering their tracking abilities useless.

To make matters worse, this business discovered that they weren’t simply dealing with ordinary thieves. It wasn’t rogue teenagers or or unruly misfits roaming the streets for this business’s assets—no, it was worse! The business was dealing with none other than an organized crime ring—a gang! a mob!—and they were making a profit from stripping the components at chop shops while this poor business suffered the losses. All those assets they had invested in to do their work were disappearing overnight at the fearful hands of patented criminals! And it could happen to your business too!

How can this business recover their missing equipment and outsmart potential thieves?

The Tale of the Invisible Supply Chain

Imagine yourself in a dark, cold, underground cellar. The wind howls outside through the treetops—a full moon glowing through the cracks in the decrepit wooden boards nailed haphazardly over your only window. In the distance, an owl hoots as if warning unsuspecting travelers too disoriented to know they should turn back before it’s too late…

That’s what business was once like for third-party logistics provider J&A Freight. This shipping company was entrusted by clients to handle high-value items with time-sensitive deliveries—food-related raw materials, chemicals, semi-precious metals, and more. Yes, they were valuable treasures this business was responsible for transporting from one location to the next, yet the business had one tragic flaw too ghastly to ignore—they had no reliable way to track shipments! Without visibility, it was as if the company was crawling around in the dark trying to determine which skittering sound in that damp cellar of logistics was a shipment meant for their client. Where did it go? When would it arrive? No one knew for sure, but they knew they needed a way out of there.

“If only there was a way to get our own data for our clients' shipments!” they groaned aloud, trapped in the depths of despair and operational inefficiency. “If only we could easily gather and share data with our customers so they could see their shipments in the light of day!” It was a guttural plea for mercy—and would there be a savior?

Venture on and learn about this business’s fate.

Tired of living in fear of the 'unknowns' in your business? Spytec GPS can help. Our swashbuckling team of dedicated professionals work tirelessly to make sure the GPS solution you have is the GPS solution you need. Take a look at what we can do for your business today.