Strategy for Management Consultants & Business Analysts
- Description
- Curriculum
- FAQ
- Reviews
What is the aim of this course?
Strategy is one of the most dreaded subjects in any business. There are so many conflicting frameworks that is difficult to decide what to choose. In this course, you will learn a framework that will help you formulate and execute the strategy for your businesses on the level of top consulting firms i.e. McKinsey, BCG, Bain, PwC, and EY. You will also see how others are implementing their strategic choices.
This course will help you drastically improve your knowledge and skills in creating as well as executing a strategy for your business (or your customers’ businesses). It is designed for people who want to become management consultants, business analysts, or work on creating and implementing the strategy inside the business. In the course you will learn 3 main things:
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What strategic choices do you have and how to choose the optimal one?
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How to calculate the impact of the chosen strategy or tactic?
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How to implement the strategy and how others are doing it?
The course is based on my 15 years of experience as a consultant in top consulting firms and as a Board Member responsible for strategy, improvement, and turn-arounds in the biggest companies in the Retail, FMCG, SMG, and B2B sectors that I worked for. I have carried out or supervised over 90 different performance improvements and strategic projects in different industries that generated a total of 2 billion in additional EBITDA. On many occasions, I had to not only formulate the strategy but also make sure that it was implemented. On the basis of what you will find in this course, I have trained in person over 100 consultants, business analysts, and managers who now are CEOs, Board Members, Operational Directors, COOs, Investment Directors, Directors in Consulting Firms, etc. On top of that my courses on Udemy were already taken by more than 237 000 students including people working in EY, McKinsey, Walmart, Booz Allen Hamilton, Adidas, Naspers, Alvarez & Marsal, PwC, Dell, Walgreens, Orange, and many others.
I teach through cases so most of the lectures are case studies showing some business problems solved in Excel. In this way, you get a lot of practical insight into how to calculate the impact of strategic changes or how to decide which strategic option is useful. These skills will come in handy during consulting projects. To every lecture, you will find attached (in additional resources) the Excels 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?
Most consultants and business analysts are a bit lost during strategic projects. On one hand, you have a business you don’t quite understand as it is new to you. On the other hand, you have a multitude of frameworks that are conflicting with each other and quite often not practical enough. To make matters worse the customer – the business you are working for has problems understanding what you are trying to convey with your thick presentations and thousands of Excel files.
Therefore, I have gathered all my experience into one framework that is easy to follow not only for you but also for your customers. I believe in the power of data. That is why, I will show you also how to prove, using hard data and calculation in Excel, that a certain strategic choice is good or bad. In order to make certain strategies easier to understand I have also added plenty of examples of businesses using specific strategies.
To sum it up, I believe that if you want to find a way to grow a business you have to become an expert in formulating and executing a proper strategy for this business. This course has all the materials you need to become one. That is why, I highly recommend this course not only to consultants or business analysts that have to advise their customers but also to owners, founders of businesses as well as board members.
In what way will you benefit from this course?
The course is a practical, step-by-step guide loaded with tons of examples, analyses, tricks, and hints that will significantly improve the speed with which you formulate a strategy. 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:
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What strategic choices do you have and how to choose the optimal one?
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How to calculate the impact of the chosen strategy or tactic?
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How to implement the strategy and how others are doing it?
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What are the consequences of a specific strategic choice for your business?
You can also ask me any question either through the discussion field or by messaging me directly.
How the course is organized?
The course is divided into the following sections:
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Introduction. We begin with a little intro into the course as well as some general info on production
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Do what you do but better. In the second section, I will discuss the basic things you can do to improve its profitability without much growth or expansion. This strategic direction is the best for people who are satisfied with the current size of their business
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Expand your business. In this section, I will show you different ways in which you can grow your business or your customers’ businesses in size. This strategic choice is perfect for those businesses that have a winning business model and a lot of room to grow. As always there will be loads of case studies, practical knowledge of how to do in practice the necessary calculations in Excels
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Go niche. In the 4th section, I will show you how you can protect your business by going into a niche. I will devote a lot of time to the Blue Ocean Strategy and Low-Cost Strategy – 2 very powerful strategic concepts that have been disrupting many markets
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Transform. In the 5th section, I will show you how you can transform your business from your current vulnerable position into a better place with better margins and more room to grow.
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Disrupt Yourself. In this section, I will show you the last strategic option you may consider. Here you decide to look for ways to disrupt yourself before somebody else does it. I will discuss ways in which you can do it and I will show you plenty of examples of successful execution of this strategy
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You will be able also to download many additional resources
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Excels with analyses shown in the course
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Presentation of slides shown in the course
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Links to additional presentations and movies
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Links to books worth reading
At the end of my course, students will be able to…
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How to formulate a successful business strategy
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Pick the right strategy for your business
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How to crunch data in Excel
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Estimate the impact of the strategic option you have chosen
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Increase the value of your business or the businesses that belong to your customers
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How to structure complex issues
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How to define key steps needed to achieve the selected strategy
Who should take this course? Who should not?
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Management Consultants
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Business Analysts
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Small and medium business owners
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Startups founders
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Controllers
Enjoy the course and if you have any questions or requests just let me know
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1
What the course will be aboutWe begin with little intro into the course as well as some general info on production
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2
A little bit about me
In this lecture I will share some info on who am I and what is my experience
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3
How this course will be organized?
In this lecture I will show you how the course will be organized and what you can expect in each and every section of the course
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4
How to deal with Blurry image
Here I will show you what to do if a blurry image appears
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5
How to reach additional resources
Here I will show you how to find additional resources attached to the coruse like Excel files, presentations, links etc.
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6
How to find information and ask questions
Here I will show you how you can find things in Udemy and how you can ask me questions
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7
Do what you do but better – Introduction
In the second section I will discuss the basic things you can do to improve its profitability without much of growth or expansion. This strategic direction is the best for people who are satisfied with the current size of their business Â
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8
Overview of cases we will talk about in this section
In this lecture I will discuss the cases that I will use in this section to show you what you can do within this strategic direction
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9
Improve processes – Introduction
One of the ways to improve your business is to improve processes. In this lecture I will discuss what you can do. Later on I will use an example to show you how it can be done in practice
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10
DIY - internal logistics optimization – Introduction
Since we already know how in general terms to improve processes let’s go a bit deeper into details. Here I will discuss a case study we will use to show you how to improve a process. I will use as an Example a Do-it-Yourself chain and logistics processes that happen within the store
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11
DIY - internal logistics optimization – Solution
Here I will show you how we optimized the logistics processes in the store and what savings we managed to generateÂ
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12
DIY - internal logistics optimization – Solution in Excel
Here I will show you how to estimate potential savings in Excel
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13
DIY – the remaining processesWe continue with the case study that we have introduced in previous lectures.
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14
Use the right tools in the right manner - examples
Another source of improvements is to use the right tools. In this lecture we will discuss the case of using the right tools and the impact of it. As an example I will use consulting firm
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15
Pricing – Introduction
Another source of improving the profits without changing the scale of the business is to play with the pricing. Here I will discuss some general rules and approaches
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16
Pricing – Psychology – Price vs Benefit
In this lecture, we will talk about what kind of benefits the right price conveys
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17
Pricing – Psychology – Fair Price
Here I will discuss from the psychology point of view what is the fair price and how to build around it
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18
Pricing dilemma – case study
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?
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19
Pricing dilemma – Solution
In this course I will show you the general solution to the case presented in the previous lecture
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20
What will be the effect of the price increase – Introduction
The impact of the price change on your profit will depend on a few factors. I will discuss in this lecture on what you should take into account and how to calculate it .Â
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21
What will be the effect of the price increase – Solution – Impact on coffee only
In this lecture I will show you how to solve the case shown in the previous lecturesÂ
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22
What will be the effect of the price increase – Solution – Impact on boths
In this lecture I will show you how to solve the case shown in the previous lecturesÂ
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23
More on Pricing
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24
Optimize Working Capital – Introduction
Let’s now move on to working capital and how we can generate more cash from this source as well. I will discuss it briefly before we move on to a case study that will show you how to estimate the impact
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25
Optimize Working Capital – Inventory analysis – Introduction
We will continue with the example from previous lecture. In this  example of single store when we look at the sales and inventory level it is clear that there is too much stock. Let’s see what we can do about it
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26
Optimize Working Capital – Inventory analysis – Solution
We will continue with the example from previous lecture. In this  example of single store when we look at the sales and inventory level it is clear that there is too much stock. Let’s see what we can do about it
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27
Operational Excellence – Introduction
Next level in the improvement of your business is achieving the so called operational Excellence. I will discuss it briefly in this lecture. Later on I will discuss the case of low cost business operators that are the best examples of operational excellence
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28
Operational Excellence – Introduction to math for low cost models
In this section I will show you want drives the economics of low cost model. I will show you using the airlines examples how low cost carrier differ in comparison with regular players
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29
Operational Excellence – Compound effect
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. The compounding effect is especially important with low cost carriers. You need a lot of small improvements to make the difference in costs.Â
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30
Operational Excellence – Raynair vs regular airline - math behind the low cost m
I will show you in this lecture where the difference in cost comes from using as an example the airlines espiecially data on the Raynair and Lufthansa
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31
Where can you learn more about low-cost busisnesses
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32
Cross-selling & up-selling – General remarks
Another way to boost your current profits is to do a lot of cross-selling and up-selling. Here I will discuss the general rules for those 2 activities
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33
Cross-selling – Case Introduction
In B2B Services since you have already a nice base you try to sell them more of your products. The best example are big 4 auditing companies. I will discuss the general preconditions for cross-selling and introduce the case we will be solving in next lecturesÂ
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34
Cross-selling – Case Solution
In this lecture I will show you how to solve the case shown in the previous lectures.Â
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35
Sell non-core assets – Introduction
The last way to boost your profits without scaling is to get rid of non-core assets. In this lecture, we will discuss the general rules for identifying which assets should be sold
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36
Sell non-core assets – Cosmetics – Case Introduction
In the next 3 lectures, I will show you how to sell non-core assets. We will use the case of cosmetics producer
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37
Sell non-core assets – Cosmetics – Case Solution for the Hotel
Here IÂ will show you the solution to the previously introduced case
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38
Sell non-core assets – Cosmetics – Case Solution for the Kindergarten
Here IÂ will show you the solution to the previously introduced case
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39
Expand your business – Introduction
In this section I will show you different ways in which you can grow your business or your customers’ businesses in size. This strategic choice is perfect for those business that have a winning business model and a lot of room to grow. As always   there will be loads of case studies, practical knowledge how to do in practice the necessary calculation in Excels
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40
Overview of cases we will talk about in this section
In this lecture I will discuss the cases that I will use in this section to show you what you can do within this strategic direction
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41
Penetrate existing markets / products – Introduction
Penetrate existing markets / products is the first area in which you can expand / scale your business. Here I will explain why it makes so much sense
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42
Introduction to Expansion
At some point you will start considering expansion. I will show you in this section how you can expand your retail business and how to decide what to do
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43
Expansion of current model – Options
Once your business model is right you will want to expand and grow. There are some options to do that and I will show them in this lecture
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44
Saturating existing markets – Introduction
If you are present on specific market you want to know when you will reach a saturation market – the maximal number of shops that will not cause much cannibalization. I will show you how to approach this subject
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45
Saturating existing markets – Case Introduction
We will now try to check in practice how to find saturation point for a retailer. In this lecture IÂ 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
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46
Saturating existing markets – Data for the case study
In this lecture we solve previously introduced case.
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47
Saturating existing markets – Number of Stores
In this lecture we solve previously introduced case.
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48
Saturating existing markets – Stores by concepts
In this lecture we solve previously introduced case.
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49
Saturating existing markets – Concept & Space
In this lecture we solve previously introduced case.
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50
Saturating existing markets – Solution in Power Point
In this lecture we solve previously introduced case.
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51
Target new customers with existing products – Introduction
Another way to expand your business is to target new customers with existing products. Here I will show you the general rules for this method
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52
Restaurant Chain – How to define segments / target groups
Here I will show you example of approach to segmentation done for restaurant chain
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53
Restaurant Chain – Example of segmentation
Here I will show you example of approach to segmentation done for restaurant chain
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54
Examples of segmentations
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55
Target new customers with existing products – Fitness Clubs – Introduction
I will show you in this lecture how new customers can be acquired using a cases study of a fitness club
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56
Target new customers with existing products – Fitness Clubs – Number of customer
Here IÂ will show you the solution to the previously introduced case
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57
Target new customers with existing products – Fitness Clubs – Profit & Loss
Here IÂ will show you the solution to the previously introduced case
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58
Target new customers with existing products – Fitness Clubs – Final Solution
Here IÂ will show you the solution to the previously introduced case
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59
Enter new markets for existing products – Introduction
Another way to expand your business is to enter new markets for existing products. Here I will discuss the general framework and we will move on to cases
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60
Expansion strategy into other countries – Introduction
Creating an expansion strategy requires you to do a number of things. I will show you in this lecture how to approach this subject
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61
Expansion strategy into other countries – Case Introduction
In this lecture, I will start the case study that we will be solving for the next few lectures. Imagine that you are a Spanish fashion retailer and you want to figure out which countries you should enter. Therefore, you prepare a ranking of countries that show attractiveness and the size of each and every market.
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62
Expansion strategy into other countries – Data for the case study
In this lecture, we solve the previously introduced case. Here I will show you the data set you can play with
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63
Expansion strategy into other countries – Which function to use
In this lecture we solve previously introduced case. In this lectuer we will discuss the function we are using to make the ranking
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64
Expansion strategy into other countries – Solution in Excel
In this lecture we solve previously introduced case. Here I will show you the ranking of countries and regions in Excel
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65
Expansion strategy into other countries – Solution in Power Point
In this lecture we solve previously introduced case. Here I will show you the power point result
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66
New products within old categories – Introduction
You can also think about adding new products within existing categories. This is what we will discuss in this lecture
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67
New products within old categories – Case Introduction
Here I will discuss the case of domestic appliance produces that we will use in the next few lectures
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68
New products within old categories – Case Solution – Vaccum Cleaners estimation
Here IÂ will show you the solution to the previously introduced case in Excel
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69
New products within old categories – Case Solution – The rest in Excel
Here IÂ will show you the solution to the previously introduced case in Excel
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70
New products within old categories – Case Solution – Power Point
Here IÂ will show you the solution to the previously introduced case in Power Point
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71
New products expanding brand – Introduction
More risk is entering totally new categories. It is doable if you have a strong brand and you pick the right categories. We will discuss it in this lecture and later on show how to do it using a nice case study
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72
How to expand the brand – Milk Producer – Introduction
Let’s have a look at a 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.
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73
How to expand the brand – Solution – Part 1
In this lecture, I will show you how to solve the case shown in the previous lectures.
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74
How to expand the brand – Solution – Part 2
In this lecture, I will show you how to solve the case shown in the previous lectures.
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75
How to expand the brand – Solution – Scatter Plot
Here I will show you how to create a scatter plot
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76
Does it make sense to introduce new services or product – Introduction
Not always an introduction of a new product makes sense. I will show you here how to check whether you are making the right decision. We will be using in this case a salad fast food that has just introduced 2 new products and you want to check whether it makes sense.Â
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77
Does it make sense to introduce new services or product – Solution – Part 1
In this lecture, I will show you how to solve the case shown in the previous lectures.
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78
Does it make sense to introduce new services or product – Solution – Part 2
In this lecture I will show you how to solve the case shown in the previous lectures.Â
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79
Go up / down the value chain – Introduction
If you are not satisfied with your current scaling effect you can consider going up or down the value chain. We will discuss it also this option
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80
Go up / down the value chain – When it makes sense
We will discuss here when it makes sense to expand up or down the value chain.
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81
Go up / down the value chain – Benefit System
To show you how it can be done in practice we will discuss here the example of Benefits System from Poland that has expanded in many directions its main business of operating card giving you access to fitness clubs
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82
Go up / down the value chain – Zara
Another example of the successful implementation of this strategy is Zara. I will discuss it briefly in this lecture
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83
Capitalize on business assets – Introduction
When you run a business you sometimes you can create new assets (often intangible) that you can utilize in other ways and make money out of it. We will discuss it here
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84
Expand via M&A – Introduction
If you are not happy with the slow of organic scaling and expanding your business you can consider M&A. I will discuss here when it makes sense
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85
Expand via M&A – Amazon
We will have a look at how much and in what was Amazon investing.
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86
Expand via M&A – Plywood – Introduction
Let’s see how we can calculate the impact of M&A. For this, we will use the case of a plywood producer.
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87
Expand via M&A – Plywood – Solution
In this lecture, I will show you how to solve the case shown in the previous lectures.
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88
Expand via M&A – Plywood – Calculation in Excel
In this lecture, I will show you how to solve the case shown in the previous lectures.
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89
Expand via M&A – Plywood – Power Point
In this lecture, I will show you how to solve the case shown in the previous lectures.
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90
Expand via M&A – Disney
We will have a look at how much and in what was Disney investing.
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91
Expand via M&A – Microsoft
