What Will I Learn?

Model your business in Excel
Manage your business based on numbers / KPIs
Set well priorities to value creating activities
Pick the right business model for your business idea
You will understand what is important in your business
You will know what KPI you should look at and what are the benchmarks
You will be able to write down your business model in the form of an Excel model and to draw conclusion out of it

Requirements

Basic or intermediate Excel
Basic knowledge of economics or finance

Description

Why I decided to create this course?

I work with startups, VC and PE funds on daily and I have noticed that despite tones of very good books on lean methods (i.e. Lean Analytics, Running Lean etc.) startups as well as small / medium businesses have problems with applying this knowledge in practice. We have noticed that, especially first time startups, do not really understand their business model (which is totally understandable). That’s why, it is very difficult for them to know what they should concentrate on. Most entrepreneurs / startups have more or less clear business idea but quite often they do not know the business models they have chosen works in practice and they end up learning it the hard way, through their own mistakes. They have even more problems with translating the business idea / business model into coherent Excel model and checking whether the idea is worth trying.

No matter what business you are trying to start it is worth devoting some time and building a financial / business model in the form of Excel. This simple tool will help you estimate the value of your business, see how much cash you need and how your business ideas and KPIs are affecting your business. Once you build the model you can play with it and see how using different assumptions and parameters your profit will change.

The course is based on my 14 years of experience as a consultant in top consulting firms and as a Board Member responsible for strategy, new business development, improvement and turn-arounds in biggest firms from Retail, FMCG, SMG, B2B and services sector that I worked for. On many occasions I was working on building new businesses and supporting startups. On the basis of what you will find in this course I have trained startup founders, entrepreneurs but also Business Analysts working for PE / VC funds, Investment Directors, Business Development Managers creating new businesses as a part of a bigger corporation.

What will this course give you?

The course is a practical, step by step guide loaded with tones of tips and tools that will help you significantly speed up with your business, especially if you are a startup or a small / medium business. There is little theory – mainly examples, a lot of tips from our own experience as well as other notable examples worth mentioning. Our intention is that thanks to the course you will know:

what your business model is about, what to concentrate on and what are the key KPIs for you?
How you can translate it into Excel and evaluate your business?
How to make conclusions on the basis of your business model presented in the form of Excel

In this course I will talk about 4 online business models: e-commerce, marketplaces, SaaS, media site and 2 more traditional ones: restaurant and consulting (service) firm

How the course is organized?

Currently the course is divided into 7 sections:

Introduction. In this section I give you quick overview of the purpose and approach we will use in each and every section
E-commerce business model. In this section you will get insight t 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. Afterwards, I will show you how you can build the model in Excel and what conclusions can you draw from it.
B2C Services. In this section I will discuss the business model of B2C services i.e. hairdresser, restaurant chains, plumber, electricians etc. I will show you the main challenges they are facing, KPIs that matter in B2C service, examples of companies. We will go into more details when it comes to restaurant chain and I will show you how to model it in Excel
2-sided market business model. This business model has been very popular over the last 5-years and successful companies in this model can grow to be true global players at big scale. Here you will get insight into the business model of 2-sided market, especially marketplaces. You will learn not only the definition of this business model but you will have also the opportunity to see some examples of companies using these 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. Afterwards, I will show you how you can build the model in Excel and what conclusions can you draw from it.
SaaS business models. Here you will get insight into the business model of Software as a Service companies. You will learn the definition of the 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. At the end, I will show you how you can build the model in Excel and what conclusions can you draw from it.
B2B Services. Next we will move on to business model of B2B services. They behave a little bit differently than the B2C service. I will show you the main challenges they are facing, KPIs that matter in B2C service, examples of companies. At the end I will show you how to model consulting business in Excel.
Media site business models. Here you will have a look at relatively simple and cheap business model – media site. You will learn the definition of this business, 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. Afterwards, I will show you how you can build the model in Excel and what conclusions can you draw from it.

You will be able also to download many additional resources

Models in Excel show in lectures
Links to books worth reading
Links to additional resources

At the end of my course, students will be able to…

Model your business in Excel
Manage based on numbers your business and set well priorities
Pick the right business model for your business idea
You will understand what is important in your business
You will know what KPI you should look at and what are the benchmarks
You will be able to write down your business model in the form of an Excel model and to draw conclusion out of it

Who should take this course? Who should not?

Startup founders
Small and medium business owners
Investment Directors
Business analyst
Financial Analyst
Controllers

Who is the target audience?

Startup founders
Investment Directors
Business Analyst
Small and medium business owners
Financial Analyst
Controllers