Business Analysis Fundamentals for Management Consultants

What is the aim of this course?

This course will help you drastically improve your knowledge and skills in business analysis through a series of practical cases. It is designed for people who want to become business analysts or management consultants, work in management consulting, or do a lot of business analysis at their work. It is based on my 14 years of experience as a consultant in top consulting companies and as a Board Member responsible for strategy, improvement, and turn-arounds in the biggest companies from the FMCG, SMG, and B2B sectors that I worked for.  On the basis of what you will find in this course, I have trained over 100 business analysts and management consultants who are now Investment Directors, Senior Analysts, Directors in Consulting Companies, Board Members, etc. On top of that, my courses on Udemy have already been taken by more than 315 000 students.

I teach through cases, so most of the lectures will be case studies showing some business problems solved in Excel. I will also show you the main techniques used by Management Consultants to properly structure the business analysis. To most lectures, you will find attached  (in additional resources) the Excel shown in the Lecture, so as a part of this course, you will also get a library of ready-made analyses that can, with certain modifications, be applied by you in your work.   

Why have I decided to create this course? 

The companies I have worked with so far as a Board Member (I am usually, Chief Restructuring Officer, VP responsible for Strategy and Development) still have a huge problem with properly analyzing intermediate and advanced issues – they are usually preoccupied with current activities and have close to no time for analysis and strategic decisions. Moreover, they do not know how to approach many subjects from an analytical point of view to make sure that they are making the right decision. Therefore, quite often they hire consultants who, in turn, lack the practical knowledge and experience. This course is my small contribution to improving both consulting as well as operational and strategic analyses in FMC, SMCG, and B2B companies, including also online models like e-commerce, SaaS, and marketplaces.   

In what way will you benefit from this course?   

The course is a practical, step-by-step guide loaded with tons of analyses, tricks, and hints that will significantly improve the speed with which you do the analyses, as well as the quality of the conclusions coming out of the available data in your company. There is little theory – mainly examples, a lot of tips from my own experience, as well as other notable examples worth mentioning. Our intention is that, thanks to the course, you will know:   

1. How to structure business analysis so you get the right results fast?   

2. How to analyze different aspects of sales, marketing, and operations?   

3. How to draw conclusions from those analyses – both for current operations as well as strategic ones?   

4. How to be efficient in your work as a business analyst or management consultant?     

5. How to build Excel files and PowerPoint presentations so that it is understandable for you and your team, even after some time?   

You can also ask me any questions either through the discussion mode or by messaging me directly.   

How is the course organized?    The course is currently divided into the following sections:   

• Introduction. We begin with a little intro into the course as well as some general info on the role of business analyst – what skills, education, and knowledge are required from you, and what are the available career paths for you   

• How to create a top-notch business analysis in 8 steps. In this section, I will show you how to structure a business analysis so you get the results you want fast.   

• Ceramic tiles market estimation - example of business analysis. In section 3, I will again show slowly 1 example of business analysis from the beginning to the end   

• Improving the results of a cinema - example of business analysis - example of business analysis. In this section, I will again show slowly 1 example of business analysis from the beginning to the end   

• Tools. In the second section, we briefly go through the main tools and concepts for business analysts. We devote some time to the most popular ones: Excel and PowerPoint   

• Sales & Marketing. Analyzing the market, sales activities, and efficiency, and the potential for expansion are some of the most typical tasks set for business analysts. Here, I provide you with plenty of practical, real-life examples of problems and solutions   

• Business modeling - example of analysis. On some occasions, you analyze the whole business to see what the logic behind it is. Here, we show how to do it for some of the business models   

• Operations. Quite often, business performance depends on Operational Excellence. In this section, we will show you examples of analysis from logistics, production, production planning, and other supply chain issues.   

• Cases for training analytical skills - Market Estimation. This section will help you train your analytical skills using the market estimation cases   

• Cases for training analytical skills - Sales and Marketing. This section will help you train your  analytical skills using the sales and marketing cases   

• Cases for training analytical skills - Strategy. This section will help you train your analytical skills using strategic cases   

• Cases for training analytical skills - Operations. This section will help you train your analytical skills using operational cases   

We will be adding new sections in the coming months     

You will also be able to download many additional resources   

1. Excel files with the analyses shown in the course   

2. Presentation of slides shown in the course   

3. Links to additional presentations and movies   

4. Links to books worth reading