Of Literature and Lattes

by Katherine Reay

Data tells a story, and by hearing it and acting upon it, we might get that boulder up the hill and keep it there. Basically that’s what numbers do if you know how to read them. If you can discover who comes in here and when, and what they order, you know a lot. If you can bring that person back, entice them to purchase something different or more

or more often, the story gets better, because there’s a lower cost to drawing an existing customer back. Then if you find others like that person, and answer their needs, better still . . . This goes on and on. If you have a strong foundation, you’ve got a place to stand, and the numbers give you a lever. With those, as Archimedes said, you can move the earth—or at least the needle at one small-town coffee shop.”

He knew a wounded soul thrashed as violently as a bitter or broken one.