This business consulting service is based on creating custom Excel™ workbooks for planning and budgeting and other business applications that require Excel™. The point of this exercise is that many business owners do not have the time or inclination to establish customized processes in Excel™ and would rather outsource the effort to a local consultant. Based on this Excel™ course, we go through a series of scenarios for which the student creates business applications using the cell formulas to do the work. In addition to actually doing the work you can also work closely with a client as a coach or mentor to help them learn how to do this work for themselves.

This business consulting service is based on creating custom Excel™ workbooks for planning and budgeting and other business applications that require a more advanced level of Excel™-VBA to create more complex applications. At this level most business owners do not have the time or inclination to establish customized applications in Excel™-VBA and would rather outsource the effort to a local consultant. Based on this Excel™ course, we go through a series of scenarios for which students creates business applications using VBA statements combined with Cell Formulas to do the work. In this type of work the chances of mentoring or coaching clients to do their own development is not as big an opportunity as coaching on more common worksheet technology.

When all is said and done every business needs bookkeeping and accounting to keep track of its earnings and things like taxes for starters. Many entrepreneurs have too much on their plate to spend time on doing the books: if this is something that appeals to you there is more than plenty of work out there to keep you busy. Bookkeeping and accounting is also a great part-time job for stay-at-home parents: you establish a routine with your customers where you pick-up their receipts, then do the processing and report-writing at home, and then return their receipts with the appropriate reports and backup data on a regular weekly cycle or even more frequently for busy enterprises. Even if the client needs to deliver audited financial statements as well they can save a small fortune in processing fees by outsourcing their day-to-day administrative work.

It is true that many businesses fail at the idea stage, when people get the notion that there is a bucket of gold at the end of the rainbow. The goal of this exercise is to provide an objective look at what is possible (this is no guarantee) and what the risks are if different assumptions do not pan out the way the entrepreneur hoped they would. The focus is on assuming there is a viable opportunity and then to play with the numbers to explore if, and how, that can be turned into a good business model. Some ideas are generic (like starting a bookkeeping service) and there are few ways to create a unique selling proposition (USP) that makes your service more attractive by comparison to all the other services. Other ideas may be so unique that it is difficult to estimate the potential demand for the services (or products) so you need to assess the inherent risks.

Any businesses in need of financing requires a current business plan, but many business owners are at a loss when it comes to preparing a business plan as expected by a bank. The goal of this exercise is to provide an objective look at the business potential under certain financing levels to both show the need for financing, and the probability of achieving their objectives and thereby assure their ability to repay that financing (which is typically embedded in the financial model), but also to show what risks are if different assumptions do not pan as the entrepreneur hoped they would. The focus is on assuming there is a viable opportunity and then to play with the numbers to explore if, and how, that can be turned into a good business model, and to explore the upside and downside of the business plan as well as a viable exit strategy to protect lenders.

Public corporations must produce annual audited statements, but that only reflects the previous operating year, often compared with even older operating years. Even for companies that are doing well stakeholders increasingly ask about future plans, so in addition they often have to produce an annual budget and financial forecast to ensure investor confidence. This can be quite a challenge when most of their financial people are focused on the annual report, which may be an opportunity for providing consulting services to build a more detailed version of the business plan to illustrate the intent of the business management to take measures that will ensure the long-term viability of the business as an investment opportunity.