SQL &
DATA.

Queries, reporting systems and structured data workflows that turn operational databases into useful information.

  • SQL
  • MYSQL
  • POSTGRES
  • ETL
  • REPORTING
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05 / LIVE DEMO — QUERY EDITOR

PICK A QUERY · RUN IT · READ THE RESULT

A demonstration with fictional sample data. The queries run in your browser against a generated table of invented customers and orders.

THE POINT OF IT

TURN DATA INTO ANSWERS.

Data is only useful when it reaches a decision. Everything I build in this area exists to shorten that path.

  1. 01

    DATABASE

    Orders, customers, stock, jobs. Usually already there, usually under-used.

  2. 02

    SQL QUERY

    The right question, written precisely, so the database does the heavy lifting.

  3. 03

    INFORMATION

    Clean, consistent tables and figures that people can read and trust.

  4. 04

    DECISION

    What to chase, what to stock, where margin is going. The reason for the whole exercise.

WHAT IT COVERS

06 AREAS

  1. 01

    QUERIES & VIEWS

    Well-structured SQL for the questions the business asks repeatedly, saved as views so the answer is always one step away.

  2. 02

    REPORTING SYSTEMS

    Scheduled reports and dashboards fed directly from the database, not from somebody's copy of last month's export.

  3. 03

    DATABASE DESIGN

    Schemas in MySQL or PostgreSQL that reflect how the business works, with the constraints that keep the data honest.

  4. 04

    ETL & DATA CLEANING

    Moving data between systems and de-duplicating, standardising and reshaping it on the way.

  5. 05

    PERFORMANCE

    Indexes, query plans and restructuring for the report that used to take seconds and now takes minutes.

  6. 06

    MIGRATIONS

    Getting data out of ageing systems and sprawling spreadsheets and into a structure that will last.

IN PRACTICE

THE ANSWER IS USUALLY ALREADY THERE.

Most businesses collect far more data than they use. The information exists; the difficulty is getting it out reliably, in a form people can act on, without someone spending a morning in spreadsheets first.

I write the queries, build the reporting around them and make sure a figure means the same thing every time someone looks at it. Plain SQL where plain SQL will do, and a proper structure where the data needs one.

QUESTIONS A GOOD QUERY ANSWERS

  • Which customers have quietly stopped ordering?
  • Where is margin slipping, and since when?
  • What needs reordering this week?
  • How does this quarter compare with the same one last year?
APPROACH

HOW I'D APPROACH IT.

  1. 01

    Agree the questions

    Before any SQL, we pin down what you need to know, how often, and who needs to see it.

  2. 02

    Look at the real data

    I inspect the data as it actually is (gaps, duplicates, odd formats) rather than as the schema says it should be.

  3. 03

    Build and check

    Queries, views and reports, each checked against figures you already trust before anyone relies on them.

  4. 04

    Leave it readable

    Clear, commented SQL and a short explanation of what each report does, so it isn't a black box.

HAVE A PROBLEM WORTH SOLVING?

Tell me what you wish you knew about your business. If the data exists, I'll help you get the answer out of it.

Start a project