"Last year, The Maverick Spa advertised on our printed directory and saw its business increase by 15 percent over the previous year's revenue. This success reflects how all businesses can use our directory to make their business more profitable.As per the aforementioned argument, it asserts that advertising in the printed directory can lead to an increase in the revenue and consequently the profits of the business. At first glance the argument appears to be fine, but on contemplating further it is observed that the argument has many flaws in the form of unaddressed assumptions, lack of numerical data, extrapolations and generalizations.
Firstly, the argument assumes that the company in question i.e. The Maverick Spa did nothing else in addition to advertising in the directory that could have led to a growth in its revenue. Had it been the case that the company had ramped up its digital marketing or would have slashed the prices on its items and services then the advertisement in the directory wouldn't have been the sole reason for increased the revenue.
Secondly, the argument assumes that a 15 percent increase is substantial enough to address it as a success. It fails to consider the possibility that in current market conditions, almost all businesses are registering growth of 20% and upwards. Considering the aforementioned case, a 15% growth would have meant that the business has underperformed compared to its peers and thus the advertising campaign was technically not successful.
Moreover, the argument also assumes the fact that an increase in revenue necessarily means an increase in profitability. Profits depend not only on the revenue but also on the fixed and variable costs of any business. With the company in question, even though an increase of 15% revenue was observed, still the company could have seen a drop in its profits due to additional costs incurred during the current financial year. One of the obvious cost being the additional money spent on advertising in the directory.
Further, the argument has committed an error in assuming that all businesses irrespective of their focus areas would be more profitable by advertising in the directory. It doesn't consider the possibility that the readers of the directory aren't a diverse group but a niche set which have certain likings and taste. Obviously in such a case only those businesses are likely to see an increase in their revenues which have their focus areas aligned with the interests of the majority of the readers.
Considering all the above mentioned points, the following information could have been incorporated in the argument. How other local businesses in the area have performed in the past year ? How other businesses of same focus area have performed ? Did the business in question do anything apart from advertising in the directory that could have led to an increase in its revenue ?
The argument in its present state can said to filled with defects so much so that it can outrightly be refuted. Had the argument managed to address the shortcomings mentioned above it would have managed to be more persuasive and convincing, and would have reinforced its position as an irrefutable argument. But in its current form its is filled with overreached assumptions, lack of substantive claims and information.