[Ep 1] Executive Lens — What the Business Looks Like From Above

A bar chart can tell you sales went up last month.

It can’t tell you why.

Most dashboards look great on the surface — clean charts, neat filters, maybe even a color palette that would make a designer proud. But a beautiful dashboard doesn’t guarantee understanding.

That part lives between the bars — in the context, the comparisons, the follow-up questions that turn numbers into strategy. This is the part where the numbers stop sitting quietly on a page.

And once you see it, you can’t unsee it.

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Welcome to the Series: Reading Between the Bars — Finding the Story Your Business Data’s Been Hiding.

The Episode:

• Ep.1 — Executive Lens

  • Dashboard 1: Executive Summary

  • Dashboard 2: Products

  • Dashboard 3: Location

• Ep.2 — Customer Lens

  • Dashboard 4: Customers

  • Dashboard 5: RFM

• Ep.3 — Campaign Lens

  • Dashboard 6: Campaign Performance

  • Dashboard 7-10: Ad Campaigns

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When I finished building the dashboards for my technical interview challenge, I thought the hard part was over.

All the SQL queries were clean. The data models were neat. The visuals were polished.

But dashboards, I quickly learned, aren’t the story.

They’re just the cover of the book.

The real magic happens when you read them — when you stop admiring the graphs and start asking, “Okay, but what is this actually telling me?”

This blog is the second half of that journey — the moment I stopped thinking like a data builder and started thinking like a decision-maker.

So I sat down, opened the first dashboard, and started reading.

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Dashboard 1: Executive Summary — The “If You Only Have 2 Minutes” View

This is the big-picture heartbeat of the business. One page. One glance.

Revenue, campaign performance, customer counts, ROI — the essentials a VP could check between meetings and instantly know: Are we winning? Slipping? Or holding steady?

The only filter here is Timeline — but that’s where the story starts.

To keep us on the same page:

• Calendar Year: January 1 – December 31.

• Fiscal Year: April 1 – March 31 (e.g., April 2024 is Fiscal Year 2025; March 2024 is Fiscal Year 2024).

Why it matters: A fiscal year can align reporting with the natural business cycle, often ending in a slow period so year-end work happens without peak-season chaos.

Key Metrics & Why They Matter:

Revenue (yearly, quarterly, monthly) The headline number everyone checks. Our FY2025 revenue is $2.86M means nothing without context. Not until we compare it to last year’s same period.
Revenue Trends Peaks, dips, and seasonality clues tell us when the business surges — and when it needs a push.
Active Customers 4,986 lifetime, but how many are truly active this year? Some may be hibernating, and that changes the retention story.
Total Transactions High volume can mean strong engagement — or a lot of low-value orders.
ROI Lifetime ROI: 4.4%. This year: 3.9%. That drop raises a question — is it higher marketing spend, lower returns, or both?
Average Order Value ($66.13) Even a $1 lift per order across 128K transactions = $128K more revenue without finding new customers in year 2024.
Top-Performing Locations Kelowna leads in revenue. Is it brand love… or just store count?
Best-Selling Days Weekends are strong (no surprise). But Monday and Tuesday beat other weekdays — thanks to campaigns. What happens if those campaigns stop? Do sales hold, or drop?
Payment Preferences Credit cards top the list. But if we want faster cashflow, could a “pay with cash, get X% off” incentive work? Or, if the goal is higher spend, could we partner with a bank for bonus points?
Transaction Channel In 2024, dine-in ruled. In 2025, delivery/takeout surged. Habit change? Market trend? Or external events?	2024 2025
ROI by Campaign The quickest gut check: Did the campaign give more than it took? A high ROI means the spend worked hard. A low or negative ROI means we might be better off redirecting budget elsewhere.

Takeaway: Top-line metrics tell you something is happening. They never tell you why.

When I first pulled this view, I could see the trends.

But the real value came from asking the “why” in every number.

And that “why” became the thread I followed through every other dashboard.

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Dashboard 2: Products — What are people actually buying?

Once we know where the money’s coming from, the next question is simple: What’s on the plate?

I sliced the dataset by timeline again — not because I like extra charts, but because products tell a different story when you watch them over time. Some spike when the weather or mood changes. Think ice cream in July and comfort hotpot on rainy nights — timing matters.

Monthy Mushroom Burger

Chocolate Cheesecake

Key Metrics & Why They Matter:

Revenue, Items Sold, & Average Order Size Revenue and total items sold set the scene — high-performing categories keep the business steady. But the hidden story lives in average order size. Bigger baskets mean more revenue without more customers.
Category & Top-Selling Product When we sort by category, meals dominate. But product-level detail brings surprises: the Burger leads in total sales, while Chocolate Cheesecake wins on highest average price. Bundle the two, and you’ve got an easy revenue lift — no extra ad spend.
Item Sold Trend Line & Average Order Size Trend Line (Monthly Trends) The charts tell a seasonal story. In some months, order sizes dip — not because traffic falls, but because customers choose smaller-ticket items. Perfect timing for a “Meal + Treat” offer or a limited seasonal combo to bring those baskets back up.
Basket Behavior by Age In 2024, the 25–34, 35–44, and 45–54 groups all generate similar revenue. The gap is in basket size — 35–44 leads, followed by 45–54, then 25–34. The cheesecake bubble shows how much 25-34 customers love it. Now it's time to turn that sweet tooth into bigger baskets.	All Products Chocolate Cheesecake
Average Order Size by Gender Almost no difference. That means broad strategies work — unless you’re selling something niche. In that case, a gender-specific price or promo could move the needle.

From here, the question shifts: not what they’re buying, but where.

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Dashboard 3: Location — When “Top” Isn’t the Whole Story

Kelowna may top the revenue chart at first glance.

It’s easy to think: “Kelowna loves us most.”

Then I stripped away the store count. Just for curiosity.

Kelowna

Vancouver

Victoria

That’s when Vancouver and Victoria stepped out of the shadow.

Each with a single store.

Each pulling in almost the same volume — about 13K transactions in 2024.

Vancouver: $899.5K in revenue.

Victoria: $860.7K.

Their average order value? Almost identical — $69.35 vs. $68.32.

And Kelowna?

$3.4M across four stores. About $850K each.

Per store, Vancouver edges Kelowna by $49.5K — a 6% lead.

Suddenly, the headline shifted:

Kelowna wins on scale.

Vancouver wins on efficiency.

Victoria wins on flavor — literally, their customers order more drinks than anyone else.

Key Metrics & Why They Matter:

Revenue by City Comparing each city’s share of company total reveals the true drivers.	Kelowna
AOV Potential & Total Transactions Kelowna’s transaction is huge (50K), but a $2–$3 lift per order could add $100K–$150K annually without a single new store.	Kelowna
Top Products Kelowna and Vancouver share the same top categories, but Victoria is different—its top 5 includes “Drinks” instead of “Breakfast.” This suggests Victoria’s audience leans toward beverages (coffee, tea, smoothies) over full meals—perhaps due to lifestyle, commuting patterns, or weather habits. That’s a green light for multi-drink bundles and size upgrades.	Victoria
Channel Preferences Victoria orders most via delivery, especially on cloudy days — prime for drink bundles with sexy delivery promos. Kelowna and Vancouver skew dine-in — perfect for in-store experiences, group offers, and table-side upsells.	Victoria
Best-Selling Days Weekends rule, but weekday promos like Plant-Based Mondays and Double Points Tuesdays spike sales. (We’ll unpack each campaign later.)
Who’s Buying Ages 25–34 and 35–44 lead the spend. Target them with combos they already love — coffee + breakfast, family dine-ins, early dinners.
Loyalty Tiers Gold members spend the most per visit. Bronze is the biggest group — and the easiest to upgrade.

The Plot Twist

If we’d stopped at “top city by revenue,” the plan was simple — double down on Kelowna.

But the real story was more interesting:

Kelowna needs an upsell strategy.

Vancouver is ready for scaling.

Victoria could surge with weather-triggered drink promos.

It wasn’t just where the stores were.

It was how each city played the game.

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But behind every big number is a person — a customer making choices. And to really understand growth, you need to zoom in on them.

That’s where we head next: [Ep.2] Customer Lens. Layering in campaign performance and RFM segmentation will reveal not just where revenue happens, but who drives it, and what triggers their spending.