Turning Data Into Direction: An Introduction to SixFiftyThree Consulting

Hello, Lake County. I'm Matt Carlson, founder of SixFiftyThree Consulting, a data and analytics consulting firm based here in Lake County. I recently joined the Chamber, and rather than wait for the next mixer to introduce myself one handshake at a time, I figured I'd start with an article.

Who I Am

I'm a data nerd, and I mean that in the best way possible. Messy data, clean data, data nobody has touched in three years, data that lives in five different spreadsheets and somehow tells a different story in each one. I love all of it. What I love more is helping people figure out what it's actually saying.

Before starting SixFiftyThree, I spent 15+ years solving data and business problems for large organizations: building forecasting engines, profitability models, and analytics platforms that executives actually used. I hold a Master's in Data Science from Northwestern and a degree in Accounting and Finance from Loyola Chicago, which means I sit comfortably at the intersection of the numbers, the technology, and the business strategy. I stay hands-on with the code and the data, and I can explain what any of it means in plain English.

I started SixFiftyThree because I kept seeing the same gap: the tools and techniques that big companies use to make smarter decisions rarely make it down to the businesses that could benefit from them most. Small and mid-sized businesses deserve that same level of insight without the enterprise price tag, the six-month engagement, or the consultant-speak.

Do These Problems Sound Familiar?

Most of the business owners I talk to are wrestling with some version of these four problems.

You're losing hours to manual tasks. You're stuck in repetitive, day-to-day administrative work. These manual processes aren't just frustrating; they steal the time you should be spending on the big-picture work that actually grows the company.

You're guessing where your profits are hiding. You have a sense of your revenue, but you aren't completely sure where the profit is actually being made or lost. Without that clarity, big financial decisions come down to intuition instead of facts.

Your data is scattered and inconsistent. Critical business information is trapped in siloed spreadsheets, disconnected apps, and email threads. Your team wastes hours just trying to find and reconcile the numbers they need.

Your reports describe the past instead of the future. You generate plenty of reports, but they feel static and disconnected from reality. Your data becomes an expensive archive instead of a roadmap for what to do next.

If any of that hits close to home, you're in good company. These are the most common problems in small business, and they're all fixable.

What I Do

Every business is different, but the problems usually rhyme. Here's where I tend to add the most value:

• Make sense of your data. Exploratory analysis, KPI development, and executive reporting that turn raw numbers into a clear picture of what's happening and why.
• Stop doing it manually. Custom automation for the repetitive tasks that eat your week: scheduling, inventory, reporting, and the spreadsheet gymnastics in between.
• Follow the dollars. Profitability analysis by customer and product, pricing analysis, and financial models that let you test big decisions before you commit money to them.
• See around corners. Demand forecasting, customer lifetime value, and churn prediction so you can anticipate instead of react.
• Get your data house in order. A clean, reliable single source of truth so your whole team looks at the same facts and stops debating whose report is right.
• Act as your tech translator. Fractional data leadership for owners who need senior guidance on data and AI strategy without a full-time executive hire.

The engagement model is simple: I dig in to understand your business and find the real problem, build a targeted plan focused on the highest-impact areas, and deliver a solution built to work and scale with your business. I don't drop off a report and disappear. I'm here for the whole journey, whether that's a one-time analysis or a long-term partnership.

Why I'm Here: Education First

Here's the part I care most about as a new Chamber member. I'm not just here to find clients. I'm here to help raise the data literacy of the Lake County business community, because I think that benefits all of us.

Data, analytics, and AI are moving faster than any business owner has time to track. Every week brings a new tool, a new headline, and a new vendor promising that AI will transform your business. Some of it is real. A lot of it is noise. Sorting one from the other is a full-time job, and you already have one of those.

So here's my offer to fellow Chamber members. I read the papers so you don't have to, and I'm glad to share what I learn:

• Speaking and workshops. I'm happy to present at Chamber events on practical topics: what AI can realistically do for a small business today, how to know if your business is ready for automation, which metrics actually matter, and how to avoid the most common (and expensive) data mistakes.
• Straight answers, no pitch. If you're evaluating an AI tool, wondering whether a dashboard is worth building, or just trying to understand what "AI enablement" even means for a business your size, reach out. I'll give you an honest read, even if the honest read is "you don't need to spend money on this."
• Best practices you can use tomorrow. Most data wins for small businesses aren't fancy. They're things like getting everyone working from the same numbers, automating one painful weekly task, or finally knowing which customers are actually profitable. I like showing people how reachable those wins are.

My goal is simple: I'd rather every business in Lake County make smart, informed decisions about their data and technology, whether or not I'm ever involved. Good decisions tend to come back around.

Let's Talk

If your data isn't working as hard as you are, let's fix that. And if you'd like me to speak at an upcoming event, run a workshop for your team, or just grab coffee and talk shop, I'm always up for that conversation.

Looking forward to meeting you all.