Kiran Augustin’s Internship at a Non-profit: Creative Lab Coffee
Kiran Augustin, a student in our Data Science and Business Analytics master’s program, has landed a unique summer internship working at a non-profit coffee shop, Creative Lab Coffee. The shop is located at Do Greater Charlotte, a non-profit facility that provides quality tools, a creative space and a nurturing community so that underserved and under-resourced communities can turn their ideas into future opportunities. The company website says, “We are training the next generation of creative entrepreneurs for good.” Kiran has the amazing opportunity to contribute to this cause while also gaining real-world experience working with data analytics.
Kiran’s 12 week internship involves analyzing fixed and variable costs of the cafe to gain a deeper understanding of the financial situation, calculating breakeven points, evaluating the profit per drink after factoring in all costs, and developing a dynamic spreadsheet to track and forecast the financial situation with formulas that allow the Do Greater team to see the costs and profits associated with selling different quantities of drinks.
We asked Kiran what a typical day looks like for him so far at the coffee shop: “On a daily basis, I work to understand the coffee shop’s operations and financials. My activities include assessing sales data through the Square Platform, examining spreadsheets detailing financials such as startup cost, COGS, and ongoing costs, and carrying out preliminary data analysis. I collect updated data for the ongoing cost of items being purchased and calculate accurate and consistent COGS for each item. A notable experience thus far has been gaining exposure to the real-life application of data analytics in a business context. The hands-on experience of navigating the Square Platform looking at real time sales data has been educational and insightful. It is hard to get real sales data of an ongoing business and I am fortunate to have that experience from my internship at Do Greater Charlotte. Another noteworthy experience was the detailed tour I took, guided by my mentor, who showed me all the facilities in addition to the coffee shop that are present at Do Greater Charlotte such as a music studio, shared workspaces, events, and conference halls.”
He also feels extremely grateful for the opportunity to apply data analytics towards a non-profit organization. “I am really excited about the upcoming stages of this internship. I am keen to see how the insights gathered from the data can help inform business decisions and contribute to the profitability of the coffee shop. Also, this project is offering me a solid foundation in financial and sales data analytics, skills that will prove beneficial in my future career,” says Augustin.
We look forward to hearing about your accomplishments towards the end of your internship, Kiran!