Welcome to Day 4! It's still John at Maven Analytics here.

You've explored the data, answered the revenue question by category and by product, and tracked the monthly trend. Today I'm not teaching a new concept. I'm showing you the full process, how I'd approach this dataset if Sarah handed it to me and said "tell me what's going on with Q1."

Because here's something no one tells you about becoming a data analyst: the SQL is rarely the hardest part. What's actually hard, and what actually impresses stakeholders, is knowing which questions to ask, in what order, and how to turn SQL results into a story a non-technical person can act on.

This is the chain. Watch how it works.

The analyst chain: five steps, every time

1. Understand what the stakeholder actually needs (not just what they asked)

2. Get a handle on your the data before writing anything analytical

3. Answer the primary question with a clear, readable result

4. Follow the data; one answer generates the next question

5. Translate into clear communication; a result is not a finding until you say what it means

Today you perform all five steps.