There is a lot of information available to us through our POS systems that show us the numbers behind the business. Owners and managers read these numbers to get a sense of not only how the business is doing, but also to get an idea of where it needs to go and what decisions need to be made to make that happen. So it is quite important that we have a sensible way to approach and use the data so the conclusions we come to and actions we take benefit the business long term.  Today I am so pleased to be talking with Mark Calhoun and Jim Strarcev of PerfectCube! After they sold their financial technology business to Charles Schwab, Mark and Jim pivoted to the retail space by opening a gelato shop. They ultimately wanted to learn the retail business so they could create a better software solution for mom-and-pop stores and small franchises. The result is PerfectCube, an online platform that allows small retailers to easily track their performance and even forecast the near future. In the space of a few minutes, users can get a read on sales, inventory levels and other important metrics. PerfectCube can assess what hours of the day have the highest sales and which individual products sold fastest, not just today, but last week, last month and last year. Mark and Jim give a great work shop at Coffee Fest trade shows called -Real Number in Your Cafe- and today they are going to be discussing with us their path to retail, approach to the numbers, and how owners and operators should be managing the metrics to make the best choices for how they run their cafes.  We cover: From big data to gelato  Learning the key points of focus for retail Taking care of customers Looking at what was behind the data Short term thinking, long term damage  False positives and confirmation bias Iportance of easy visualization Metrics to pay attention to  Next steps to get and use data well Links: www.perfectcube.co PerfectCube on Facebook   Related episodes: 009 : How to Approach Data and Metrics w/ Simon Ouderkirk  170 : Why your Inventory Counts w/ Albert Amar and Pierre-Francois Rio of SwiftCount 172 : Why Tracking Performance is a Must! 184 : Making Great Business Decisions w/ Dave Stachowiak   Visit our amazing Sponsors! www.prima-coffee.com/keys www.pacficfoodservice.com www.coffeefest.com