Data analysis · Durham, NC
Data analysis for Durham makers, markets and restaurants
Durham makers sell in more than one place: a Saturday stall, a restaurant order, a shelf downtown. We compare them on one measure so you can see which channel earns its time.
Durham data analysis for a maker with three channels
The Durham Farmers' Market sells only items made by the people selling them, within a set radius. A pickle maker there might also supply a restaurant on Main Street and take orders online. Each channel feels busy, and each takes hours.
We put the three into one cleaned table. Then we ask the plain question from our overview: which channel brings orders, and how much do those orders bring in?
Bring whatever exists: a card processor export, a market tally sheet, a wholesale invoice folder. We merge them in the cleaning stage, fix repeated customer names, and only then compare channels, so a double-counted buyer cannot flatter one of them.
Hours as part of the formula
A fair comparison counts your time. If a stall needs a full Saturday and a wholesale route needs two hours, orders alone mislead. We divide revenue by hours when you track them, and by order count when you do not.
The result might say wholesale pays less per order and more per hour. You see the formula, the inputs and the sample size, and you can change an input to test a different assumption.
Downtown Durham's food crowd
Downtown Durham has nearly 150 restaurants and bars, and Downtown Durham, Inc. lists anchors like the American Tobacco Campus and DPAC. A caterer or a drinks maker near those places sees customers from event nights and from ordinary weeks.
We compare the two groups. The Durham Tech Small Business Center offers free counseling and workshops, and we send you there with numbers in hand.
When your records can't settle it
If you never wrote down which channel an order came from, the data cannot answer. We say so, and we show the one column to add. Once that column fills, we can run the question again.
Questions from Durham owners
I make everything by hand and keep few records. Where do I start?
Start with a notebook line per sale: date, channel, amount. A month of that gives us something to work with, and we can clean up older records as well.
Can you include costs, not only sales?
Yes, if you can supply ingredient or material costs per item. We calculate margin per channel and show the formula. Without costs, we compare revenue and say so.
Do you work with restaurants in Durham?
Yes. Restaurants usually ask about slow nights, menu items or delivery orders. We pick one and answer it from your sales export.
Sources for the facts on this page: Durham Farmers' Market · Downtown Durham, Inc. · Small Business Center, Durham Technical Community College
Compare your Durham channels on a call
Tell us which three places you sell. A free call of 15 or 30 minutes is booked on the contact page, and an in-person meeting is available if you ask in the form.