What I do

I like math so you don’t have to.

My specialty is finding patterns and developing a strategy with incomplete or ambiguous data. I taught myself SQL and data visualization and believe the tools matter less than knowing what question you are trying to answer. Below are examples of ways I can help with business planning, operations or general math stuff so that you can focus on the unique creative skills you possess.

Have something else in mind? I would be happy to work with you to create a custom quote.

  • You start a business because you are passionate about what you do, and real thought and time goes into every product. I help you figure out what to make or buy, how much, and when so you’re not guessing.

  • Many small business owners don’t know their true cost for each unit taking into consideration materials, labor time, packaging and other overhead. Without understanding your all in costs, pricing is a guess. This can make it really challenging when faced with rising material costs or price increases.

    Building a simple, honest cost model will help you better understand your contribution margin (the amount left from each sale after accounting for these variable costs) and make pricing decisions you can feel confident about.

  • Building easy to navigate reporting so you can see clearly what's going on in your business without having to dig through spreadsheets or become a data analytics expert.

    These reports can quckly show how products are performing over time, across different channels (in person shopping vs. online) and expose seasonal trends.

  • Some businesses collect sales data through a point of sale system like Square, others use emails, receipts or notebooks. Whatever you’ve got, we start there. Getting your records into a simple, maintainable structure is the first step and makes everything else easier.

  • Selling wholesale to retailers involves purchase orders, payment terms, margin requirements and sometimes exclusivity clauses. I'm not a lawyer, but I can help you understand what you're actually looking at from a business perspective, what's normal, and what questions to bring to someone who is a lawyer.

How we work together

Every engagement starts with a free call so we can get to know each other and talk through what’s going on in your business.

To give you a sense of what that looks like, here are a few examples of work I have done.

  • The situation

    This organization has operated a historic community building for nearly 50 years, renting space to local businesses, classes, and community groups. Rental rates were set by different people over time, and no one had ever looked at all of the short and long term rental agreements all together.

    The work

    Starting with nine months of actual rental data and the existing lease agreements, I compared rates across the tenant group and the rental market in the surrounding neighborhood to identify three core opportunities.

    1. Two tenants were on arrangements that didn't fit the way they were actually using the space. A music class paying an hourly rate was consistently booking over 60 hours a month, while a dance class with a monthly lease used their space for over 80 hours but was paying 30% less per square foot than comparable tenants in the building.

    2. There was unmet demand for hourly rentals that the building couldn't fulfill because only one room was available for short-term bookings. A closer look at the weekly schedule showed that the dance studio, currently rented to a single tenant, was only in use 21 hours per week, with just 12 hours of overlap with the main rental room. Opening that second space to short-term rentals could unlock 55 additional rentable hours each week without disrupting any existing tenant.

    3. The building was charging a single flat rate of $40/hour for all short-term rentals, regardless of whether someone was a loyal recurring renter or a one-time private event booking. The rate was also 30% below the next lowest comparable venue in the neighborhood. A tiered structure, rewarding advance booking commitment with a lower rate while bringing private events closer to market, would better reflect both the value of the space and the different relationships the building has with its renters.

    The numbers

    Opening the dance studio space to additional short-term rentals and tiering the short-term rates could conservatively provide a rental income increase of about $88,000 annually, a 26% increase, without adding new infrastructure or significantly changing how the building operates.

    The goal of this nonprofit is to maintain the community relationships that make the building work, and make sure the agreements in place are fair, consistent, and sustainable for the long term. Any additional income will be used for improvements and maintenance of the 100 year old historic building.