How to become world class Business Analyst - Cases in Excel

Here I will show you what you will learn in this section

Here I will show you the main rules for Excel files that I recommend using when you are doing your analysis in Excel. This will help you create things understood by others that you can reuse for other projects

In the next few lectures, we will repeat the Excel functions that will be useful later when we will be solving case studies. We will discuss the following sections:

• VLOOKUP

• HLOOKUP

• MATCH

• IF
  IFERROR

• Pivot Tables

If you are familiar with that you can skip these lectures and move on to management consulting tools and techniques

Enjoy the content and if you have any questions please let me know!

In this lecture, I will show you how to use one of the most useful functions - the VLOOKUP

In this lecture, I will show you how to use one of the most useful functions - the VLOOKUP. We will look at the additional value coming from the so-called approximate match

In this lecture we show you what you can use the VLOOKUP function for. It is one of the most widely used function that simplifies a lot of things

We start with basic VLOOKUP Usage just to show you the flavor and basic construction of VLOOKUP.

We start with basic VLOOKUP Usage just to show you the flavor and basic construction of VLOOKUP.

VLOOKUP can be used to assig categories. This helps you easily by creating rules divide data into segments, cohorts and analyze them, draw conclusions

HLOOKUP is a cousin of VLOOKUP. It is not that often used independently but has some serious application when combined with VLOOKUP

Another useful function is the so-called MATCH. We will see what it gives you.

In this lecture I will show you how to assign categories using VLOOKUP and MATCH. You have the categories described in the matrix and you want to use them

In this lecture I will show you how to assign categories using VLOOKUP and HLOOKUP. MATCH can be used as alternative to the HLOOKUP

IF function can be very problematic. I will show you in this lecture why is not always the best choice

We start with showing you how to use IF function

In many cases IF can be replaced successfully with VLOOKUP. I will show you how to do it and what are the benefits

In some cases you need to use IFERROR. It can be used as a replacement for IF or independently

Sometimes make sense to use MIN and MAX instead of IF. I will show you how and when to do that

We start with basic usage of pivot tables

Power Pointe presentation is the second most important tools to be used by Business Analyst in his work. After all it is not only important to analyse data and draw conclusions but also to show them in a nice manner to decision makers. Here you will learn basic rules on how to build your Power Point deck in fast and easy manner. You will see also some examples of good and bad slides. There are many advanced tools for presentation (i.e.) Prezi. Still Power Point is the most often used and widely accepted

In this lecture, you will get to know our favorite method for the first rough estimation – the bottom-up method. We give you also 2 examples with Excel calculation on how to use it.

Top-down is the little brother of bottom-up approach – not used that often but still very useful for re-segmenting the market (niche an low-cost strategy) 

Imagine that you have to estimate the costs of the wedding to help Tomasz plan his wedding. Use for that the bottom-up approach. We will use this case study to see how bottom-up approach works in practice

In this lecture I will show you the solution to previously introduced case study

In this lecture I will show you the solution to previously introduced case study

In this lecture I will show you the solution to previously introduced case study

In this lecture I show the backward thinking /induction. This approach enables you to design the whole process, company on the bases of the expected outcome

Let’s try to put the backward reasoning to practice. In this case study we will use it to decide what effort has to be done to 10x the current business. A few information about the retailer

• He has currently 100 stores. Each store sales are equal to EUR 2 M

• He wants to 10x the business up to Year 5

• Estimate what LFL growth he must get and how many stores he must open

• Assuming EUR 1 M per store estimate the Capex

• Estimate how many people he has to recruit assuming 6 people per store

In this lecture I will show you how to solve the case shown in the previous lectures 

Backward logic can be used in many situations. Below some of them

• You have a clear goal in the future but not a clear path towards it

• You want to estimate the pace needed to reach the goal

• You want to check the implications for you or your department

• You want to see what are the limitations preventing you from reaching the goal

• You want to see whether the goal is not too ambitious

• You want to see whether the goal does not require too big resources

In many cases you can get high end result from compounding effect in time or by getting small improvements in many areas. In this lecture I will explain the concept

Issue tree is a simple yet powerful concept used in consulting for structuring discussion and picking the right topics to concentrate on. In this lecture I will show you the principles of using it as well as a practical example

In this lecture, I will summarize what kind of examples of issue trees we will present in the next few lectures

Here I will show example of an issue tree in Logistics

Here I will show example of an issue tree in Retail

Here I will show you ana example of Isse tree in FMCG

Opportunity tree is a tool that you can use to generate new ideas to improve your business by looking at main drivers of your business

We show here how to use the so called OEE (Overall Equipment Efficiency) Analysis that shows you how efficient you are in using your resources. It is very useful for checking whether you use well machines and equipment

If you want to understand well a business you have to be able to identify the cost drivers that shape the business model. In this lecture I will show you how to do that

In every company you have bottlenecks that limit your ability to go forward and deliver more goods and services. Here I will show you how to estimate what is the impact for the whole system and how you can remove improve them. I will use simple production example to show you the effect on the whole system. You will see how the bottleneck can shift from 1 shift to another. You will also learn how to prioritize where it make sense to invest to get the best results.

Before doing this lecture I strongly encourage you first to take the OEE lecture – we use the OEE concept here so if you are not familiar with it please start with OEE lecture as a warm-up.

I will show you what you will master in this section

In this lecture you will get insight into the business model of different e-commerce companies. E-commerce businesses group is very diversified so we will try to show the similarities and the differences between concepts.. You will learn here the definition of this business model, see some examples of companies using this business models. You will also understand what really matters in this sort of business, what KPIs you should look at and what values you can expect.

In this Lecture I will go through a business model of e-commerce and show you how you can model the behavior of the customer, acquisition methods and margins in Excel. Attached to this lecture you will find the file that I show in the video so download it and go through it. You can use it to model the e-commerce business you are analyzing

Excel gives you great opportunities to calculate whether your idea makes sense or not. For this you will use the knowledge you have gathered in the previous lectures on your concept, location and your customers. Excel is obviously less emotion than you and the model you will create here can be used as a cornerstone of your business plans. It shows also to banks and potential investors what is your cash flow. We start with a simple model so you can understand it and learn how to use it. 

In this lecture we make more advanced model. We introduce the traffic parameter and show how it is converted first into people that are engaged (stop and enter your restaurant) and later into customers (they buy something from you). Here we will be operating on 2 customer groups: first one eats at the restaurant; second one comes for take-aways. For both customer groups we calculate separate conversion rates and Average ticket (ATV). We still here show you a business model for a 1 restaurant

Finally we show you how to model in Excel a restaurant chain.

Before I show you the model in Excel I want to present you in this lecture the overall logic

I show you in the lecture the model of the consulting firm in Excel. After modifying it you can use it for your purposes (we attach the Excel files to the lecture). This model will let you check whether your business idea makes sense.

I show you in the lecture the model of the consulting firm in Excel. After modifying it you can use it for your purposes (we attach the Excel files to the lecture). This model will let you check whether your business idea makes sense.

As a business analyst or a consultant, you will have to from time to time create financial models. They are a bit different than business models. In business models, you go into details of operations and you focus on getting the links on the KPIs. Those models are usually done for internal purposes, to manage in the right direction the business. Financial models on the other hand are more for external users. You concentrate on creating a picture of the business in a standardized, understood by everybody way. You also want to create financial statements: profit & loss statement, balance sheet statement, cash flow statement.

If you want to learn more when it comes to modeling, I suggest checking the following resources

• Offline Business Models

• Online Business Models

• Essential Finance & Accounting

• Financial Modeling for Management Consultants

• Financial Modeling for Startups

• Financial Analysis

I will attach resources to this lecture

I will show you what you will master in this section

In this lecture we show how you can measure and analyze what is the maximal reach of your B2B bussiness having in mind transportation costs and markups. We will provide you with fast way to identify potential customers and measure your targeted price on a specific foreign market

Here I will show you how to see which marketing activities you should bet on

In this lecture you will learn to calculate sales and margin density for a Retailer using pivot and sumifs function. I will also show you what conclusion you should draw from it.

Most producers / brand owners operate using many sales channels: wholesalers, own shops, e-commerce, marketplace etc. It makes sense to check how profitability looks across channels and what can e done to improve overall situation. I will show you how it cane be done with a simple Excel analysis and a pivot table. I will go also try to demonstrate what kind of conclusions can you draw and what should be your next steps, on the basis of the results you are getting form the analyses

We will now try to check in practice how to find saturation point for a retailer. In this lecture I will introduce the case that we will work with for the next few lectures. You will be asked to find the saturation for grocery store operating in Poland

In this lecture we solve previously introduced case.

In this lecture we solve previously introduced case.

Now using data in the sheet "Concepts" on the number of store per City per concept try to estimate how many stores by concepts (Standard & Luxury Concept) we will have in each and every city. Try also to estimat the space by city by concept. For that use the sheet "Space" where we have already created the suggested structure for the data. Please use attached file Saturation point analysis v4 - Partial Solution.xlsx

So, pause the lecture, solve this part on your own and once you are down please move to the next lecture

In this lecture we solve previously introduced case.

In this lecture we solve previously introduced case.

In this lecture we solve previously introduced case.

In this lecture, I will show you how to create a waterfall chart

In Retail you have space that you divide among different product groups. For every group you should calculate the total margin using sales density, % Gross Margin and space allocated to specific group. You have to analyze their performance and decide how to split the space. In this lecture I will show you the general concept

Here I show an example of a product range analysis

Let’s have a look at milk producer that wants to expand its product range. In this case you will be asked to analyze and find the best candidates for brand expansions.  

In this lecture I will show you how to solve the case shown in the previous lectures. 

In this lecture I will show you how to solve the case shown in the previous lectures. 

Let’s have a cosmetics producer and see where is the potential for development. We will analyze the sales by regions and try to find how much more we can sell in each and every region. 

In this lecture I will show you how to solve the case shown in the previous lectures. 

In this lecture I will show you how to solve the case shown in the previous lectures. 

In this lecture I will show you how to solve the case shown in the previous lectures.

Let’s have a look at the sales force efficiency in Poland of a cosmetics producers. We will analyze the efficiency of sales force and look for ways to improve the margin 

In this lecture I will show you how to solve the case shown in the previous lectures. 

In this lecture I will show you how to solve the case shown in the previous lectures. 

In this lecture I will show you how to solve the case shown in the previous lectures. 

In this lecture I will show you how to solve the case shown in the previous lectures. 

In this lecture I will show you how to solve the case shown in the previous lectures. 

In this lecture I will show you how to solve the case shown in the previous lectures. 

In this lecture I will show you how to solve the case shown in the previous lectures. 

If you want to learn more when it comes to sales & marketing, I suggest checking the following resources

• Sales & Marketing Analysis

• Market Research

• Strategy for Management Consultants

• Sales Forecasting for Management Consulting

• Funnel Analysis

• Pricing for Management Consultants

I will show you what you will master in this section

We show here how to use the so called OEE (Overall Equipment Efficiency) Analysis that shows you how efficient you are in using your resources. It is very useful for checking whether you use well machines and equipment

In every company you have bottlenecks that limit your ability to go forward and deliver more goods and services. Here I will show you how to estimate what is the impact for the whole system and how you can remove improve them. I will use simple production example to show you the effect on the whole system. You will see how the bottleneck can shift from 1 shift to another. You will also learn how to prioritize where it make sense to invest to get the best results.

Before doing this lecture I strongly encourage you first to take the OEE lecture – we use the OEE concept here so if you are not familiar with it please start with OEE lecture as a warm-up.

In this lecture you will learn how to calculate optimal batches and how to estimate savings when comparing to actuals batches. We will use his an example of juice producer

2-stage production planning (planning for assembling and bundles). In many cases you have to first prepare the components and then on the basis of this produce the end product. This requires certain amount of additional planning, especially taking into account that the same component can be in different end-products. I will show you here on the basis of example of cosmetics producer how to create such a production plan, assuming optimal production batches for components and taking into account the inventories.

Let’s have a look at plywood producer that has 2 factories and is considering where to build the third one 

In this lecture we will compare the cost for 3 different spots for the plywood factories 

In this lecture we will calculate and compare the NPV for 3 different spots for the plywood factories 

During this lecture I will show you how on basis of small number of data create a model which will show you how logistics costs are created, on what stage and what is the biggest drivers. This in turn will enable you to apply 80/20 rule

In this lecture we will give you some tips how to approach the case and show you the usage of the proper Excel functions

In this lecture we solve the case with you, show you the outcome, interpret it and give you examples how the results can be presented in terms of Excel and slides

Let’s have a look at car producer that is wandering which plant should supply to which country 

In this lecture I will show you how to use solver to find optimal solution to the case of planning the flow of finished goods between factories and markets 

In this lecture I will show you how to use solver to find optimal solution to the case of planning the flow of finished goods between factories and markets 

We stay with our Fashion Retailer and now we will have a look at his operations in the central warehouse

In this lecture I will give you some tips that will help you to solve the case and understand the solution in Excel 

In this lecture we measure the capacity per stream and per stage to see all the limitations and what they are stemming from 

We will use the same model to calculate the cost per streams and their commponents 

You quite often have situation when people perform at different pace and with different results. You have to standardize them.

Here I will show you in Excel the effect on standarization

5S in short is about cleaning your working station, putting everything in order and keeping it this way I will show you the stages, examples of 5S and how to check whether the business has truly implemented 5S

Here I show how to calculated the impact of 5S on cost in Excel

Quite often you have one operator per one machine. This is often not efficient as machines just need feeding in the goods. 

I will show you how to calculate in Excel the impact of making the workers operate on more than 2 machines at the same time 

If you want to learn more when it comes to operations, I suggest checking the following resources

• Supply Chain for Management Consultants

• Essential Lean Manufacturing for Management Consultants

• KPIs for Management Consultants & Managers

• Performance Improvement Projects for Management Consultants

• Production Planning for Management Consultants

In management consulting you are delivering your advices, observation and analyses using presentations. On some projects you may be producing as much as 200-300 slides. Slide preparation is very time-consuming and you have to make sure that you structure you work properly to deliver according to promised deadlines.   That's why in the next few lectures I will give you some hints how to create efficiently such a presentation.

Presentations are important for many reasons. Here I will discuss what they give you, what are their benefit

There 10 phases of producing the final presentation. You start with creating the structure of the presentation then you move to making sketches, template and slides. You end up with checking for errors and omissions. I will discuss briefly here each and every stage

There are 2 types of presentations: presentation that will be read by the customer on his own and presentation that will be delivered to the customer during a meeting. Those presentations different in size, delivery time, animations present in the presentation and last but not least font size. I will be discussing those difference in more detail in this lectur

In consulting you will be creating all the time different presentations for different purposes. I will discuss in this lecture different purposes and types of presentations 

The first step is coming up with the structure of the presentation. You have to name the sections and chapters that you want to create. I will also show what structure I came up with for this course

Once you have the section and chapters you should try to put the messages you want to convey. I will show the example of messages we created for this course

You should start by sketching the presentation on a piece of paper. There are 4 phase of sketching the presentations I will show them in this lecture. You will also see the sketch for this course

After sketching you have to create the template of the slide. I will show you examples of how a sketched slide is turned into a power point slide

Power Pointe presentation is the second most important tools to be used by Business Analyst in his work. After all it is not only important to analyse data and draw conclusions but also to show them in a nice manner to decision makers. Here you will learn basic rules on how to build your Power Point deck in fast and easy manner. You will see also some examples of good and bad slides. There are many advanced tools for presentation (i.e.) Prezi. Still Power Point is the most often used and widely accepted

Here you will see how the real slide looks in comparison with the sketch and the template

There has to be a flow in the story you are trying to say with the presentation. I will show you how to achieve it

When you are  delivering the presentation people want to listen to YOU and not read the presentation. It should just support what you are saying. You should not be a slave of the presentation. I will show you some tips how to achieve a positive effect during the delivery

The delivered presentation will be different than the written one. I will discuss in this lecture the difference.

Here I will show you what else you can learn to improve your skills when it comes to presentations

We start now cases that will help you strengthen your position as a Business Analyst with strong analytical skills

In this lecture I will show what cases we will solve in this section

In this lecture you have to estimate what is the market for TVs in a specific market, what are the cost drivers. Imagine that you were asked to estimate the market for TV sets. Ask yourself 3 questions:

• What is  meant here by “the market”? Annual sales or total ownership?
• Do you want the market estimation to be in volumes or in values?
• What is included in the TV sets (i.e. monitors are in or not)?

In this lecture I show you the solution to the case you had to solve in the previous lecture

Imagine that you were asked to estimate the market for ceramic tiles. You have to ask yourself the following questions:

• What is  meant here by “the market”? Annual sales or total ownership?
• Do you want the market estimation to be in volumes or in values?
• What is included in market? Should we include B2C or also B2B?
• Are we talking about just ceramic tiles  or other connected products 

In this lectur I will show you the solution to the cases from the previous lecture

Imagine that you were asked to estimate the kid’s ware market

• What do you mean by kids?
• What products do you have in mind (i.e. toys, pampers,t-shirts)?
• Do you want the market to be estimated in volumes or in values?

Here we will solve previously introduced case

In this section I will show you want kind of cases relating to marketing and sales you may get during the interview. There will be examples from FMCG, retailers and service companies.

Imagine that as a consultant you were asked to analyze your client situation- FMCG producer that is using different channels of distribution. How would you check whether his using the right mix channels

Here we show the solution to the case shown in the previous lecture

If you work for a retailer one of the most useful analysis is to check whether there is still potential to growth and how big it is. In this lecture I will show you 2 ways in which you can estimate how many shops you can open in a specific location, city, province. One approach will be concentrated solely on the number of shops whereas the second one will also take into account the size of shops

Here we show the solution to the case shown in the previous lecture

Imagine that our consulting company is using 4 ways to acquire customers. Try to find the most efficient ways of acquiring customers? How would you do it

Here we show the solution to the case shown in the previous lecture

Imagine that you have a chain of physical stores and on-line store. What pricing would you use? How you would come up with the right pricing?

Here we show the solution to the case shown in the previous lecture

Imagine that you are a Retailers with 10 stores and very strong brand that are selling toys. How would you grow the business?

Here I will show you the solution to previous lecture

Imagine that you were responsible for managing the cinema. What KPIs metrics you would look at to see whether you are doing a good job?

We will show here KPIs for cinema

Imagine that you were responsible for managing a marketplace for patients and doctors (i.e. Docplanner). What KPIs you would look at

In this lecture we will go through the case from the previous lecture

IKEA is a well know brand selling furniture. On what do you think they make their money?

In this lecture I show you the solution to the case you had to solve in the previous lecture

Tell us what could be the business model for self driving car using canva mode

Niche strategy is widely used by many companies. Explain why and what kind of niches you can have

Niche strategy is widely used by many companies. Explain why and what kind of niches you can have

In this lecture I show you the solution to the case you had to solve in the previous lecture