Connecting your records.
WHAT A DATA MODEL IS
How your records relate to each other.
WHAT A SMALL BUSINESS NEEDS
Customers Products or services Transactions, linking the two Costs, linked to transactions where possible
WHAT LINKS THEM
Identifiers: a customer reference, a product code, an order number.
WHY IT MATTERS
Without links, you can total sales but not answer anything interesting.
WHAT BECOMES POSSIBLE WITH LINKS
Profit by customer Repeat purchase rates Which products lead to which Lifetime value
WHAT TO ESTABLISH
One identifier per thing, used everywhere.
WHAT BREAKS IT
Names used as identifiers Different references in different systems Free text where a code should be
WHAT TO FIX FIRST
The customer identifier.
It unlocks the most.
WHAT TO KEEP SIMPLE
Four tables answer nearly everything a small business asks.
WHAT NOT TO BUILD
A structure more elaborate than you will maintain.
