The whole category in one page.
START WITH A QUESTION YOU WOULD ACT ON
If the answer changes nothing, it is not worth answering.
Most valuable analysis in a small business is arithmetic on clean records, not advanced technique.
THE TWO FIELDS WORTH ADDING TODAY
How each customer found you, and what each sale cost you.
Between them they answer where business comes from and what actually makes money.
FIX COLLECTION BEFORE BUYING TOOLS
A tool applied to inconsistent records produces inconsistent answers, faster.
Three spellings of one customer become three customers.
THE THREE QUESTIONS FOR ANY NUMBER
Compared to what? Why? So what?
Most reporting never answers the third.
WHAT PREVENTS WRONG CONCLUSIONS
Compare like with like, segment before concluding, and remember that two things moving together is not one causing the other.
Ask who is missing from the data, and what would disprove your conclusion.
AVERAGES HIDE THE SPREAD, AND SMALL NUMBERS SHOW FALSE PATTERNS
Report the median where the spread is wide, and always give the counts beneath a percentage.
THE FORECAST THAT MATTERS MOST
Cash, by week, using likely payment dates rather than invoice dates.
THE HABIT THAT PRODUCES THE VALUE
An hour a month that changes something.
