You know your business generates data. Sales numbers. Customer information. Job statuses. Inventory counts.
But where does all that data live? Probably scattered across spreadsheets, notebooks, point-of-sale reports, and your memory. When someone asks “how did we do last month?” you spend 20 minutes pulling numbers together.
What if you could just… look at a screen and see it all?
That’s what a dashboard does. And I build them for small businesses right here in Florence, Darlington, and Hartsville.
Think of it like your car’s dashboard. You don’t dig through the engine to see how fast you’re going — you glance at the speedometer.
A business dashboard works the same way. Instead of hunting through files and reports, you open one screen and see:
The numbers update automatically. No manual entry. No copying and pasting between spreadsheets.
Here’s the thing: big companies have entire IT departments building this stuff. They have analysts and expensive software.
Small businesses? You’ve got yourself, maybe a few employees, and not a lot of time.
That’s exactly why a simple dashboard can be so powerful for you. The owner of a 3-person plumbing company needs to see their numbers just as much as the CEO of a Fortune 500. They just don’t have 6 months and $50,000 to make it happen.
I build practical dashboards for real small businesses. Not enterprise software. Not complicated systems that require training. Just useful tools that show you what you need to know.
Every business is different, so every dashboard is different. But here’s what I commonly build for small businesses in the Pee Dee area:
Sales dashboards. Daily revenue, weekly trends, monthly comparisons. See what’s selling and what isn’t. Know immediately if you’re ahead or behind.
Job tracking boards. For contractors, repair shops, and service businesses — see every active job, its status, and who’s working on it. No more “wait, did we finish that?”
Customer overviews. Who are your repeat customers? Who hasn’t come back in a while? Who owes you money?
Inventory trackers. What’s in stock, what’s running low, what needs to be ordered. Stop the “we’re out of that” surprises.
Appointment and scheduling views. For salons, medical offices, consultants — see your calendar at a glance with key details.
By day, I’m a Level II Automation Engineer at Nucor — one of the largest steel companies in the country. My job is building exactly these kinds of systems: dashboards that track production across multiple process lines, reports that help supervisors make decisions, data collection that happens automatically.
I’ve built systems that track downtime across six manufacturing lines. I’ve created reports that show managers exactly where to focus their attention. I work with data every single day.
The same skills that help run a Fortune 500 factory floor work just as well for your small business. Actually, they work better — because your needs are simpler and more focused.
Step 1: We talk. You tell me what numbers matter to you. What questions do you find yourself asking? What do you wish you could see at a glance?
Step 2: I figure out where your data lives. Maybe it’s in a spreadsheet. Maybe it’s in your point-of-sale system. Maybe it’s in your head and needs a proper home first.
Step 3: I build something simple. Not complicated. Not bloated. Just a clean view of the numbers you care about.
Step 4: I show you how to use it. And I make sure it actually fits into your workflow. If you don’t look at it, it’s useless.
I charge $100/hour for consulting and development work. Most simple dashboards take 3-6 hours to build — so you’re looking at $300-$600 for something that saves you hours every week.
For more complex setups with multiple data sources and automation, it might be $800-$1500. I’ll always give you a clear estimate before starting.
Free consultation: Not sure what you need? Call me for 15 minutes. We’ll talk through your situation and I’ll tell you honestly if a dashboard makes sense for you.
A dashboard makes sense if:
A dashboard probably isn’t the first step if:
If you’re in the second group, I can help with that too — starting with simple forms and processes to capture data in the first place.
Every business is different. What matters to a restaurant owner is completely different from what matters to a contractor.
Call me and tell me what you wish you could see. I’ll give you honest advice about whether I can help — no pressure.
Call or text: 854-204-7526 Email: [email protected]
Learn more about my tech consulting services.
