What would you class this service as?

13 replies
My main business is an Excel consultant - I basically fix or build bespoke applications inn Excel. However I'm thinking of spinning off a second but closely related business.

In a lot of businesses they have a regular need to produce dashboard reports etc for presentations. One company I know has its six department heads spending 40 hours (between them) producing dashboards for their end of month meetings / presentations.

My idea is to provide a service where they dump their raw data and requirements on me and I do all the processing for them. I'm hoping some companies may even keep me on a retainer.

What would you class this service as? The closest I have come up with is a "Virtual Data Analyst" - this is based on the same naming convention as "Virtual Assistant" when talking about hired in assistants.
#class #service
  • Profile picture of the author professorrosado
    Originally Posted by ExcelExpert View Post

    ...One company I know has its six department heads spending 40 hours (between them) producing dashboards for their end of month meetings / presentations.......
    The ones I know hire underlings to develop those reports for the execs. Might want to aim it to specific business genres that usually have top heavy management with under-skilled or typically non-existent support staffing. But the title / class seems right on.
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  • Profile picture of the author ExcelExpert
    Thanks ProfessorRosado - that is something I also see a lot of. At times I believe it is nothing more than "work creation" to justify budgets and peoples jobs.
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    • Profile picture of the author kilgore
      I'd never call myself anything with "Virtual" in it (like "Virtual Data Analyst"). I'd also never call myself anything with a specific type of software in it (like "Excel Consultant"). The problem with "Virtual" is it sounds like either you aren't real or are at least less than real. Think "Virtual Reality" which tries to simulate reality or a "Virtual Machine" which is essentially part of a computer, but not a whole computer to itself. To me "Virtual" implies cheap and with a quality that isn't quite as good as the real thing. Maybe that's just me though.

      As for using "Excel" in your title, I think that really puts you in a box where you don't need to be. Great, you use Excel to do most of your data analysis, but your customers probably don't care what tool you use as long as you get the job done. Before starting my business, I used to be a web developer/dev ops engineer. And that's how I marketed myself. I didn't say, I was a PHP programmer even though that's what I generally coded in or a RedHat Linux sysadmin even though that's the operating system I usually used for my servers. The fact that I knew PHP and RedHat linux was clear based on my resume. But any coder worth his or her salt isn't stuck on one language. We'll use whatever tools we need to get the job done.

      So when I had someone contact me for a short term contract that needed Python/Django on an Ubuntu box, I was honest and told them that my strength was in PHP but they needed something done quick so they hired me anyway. I spent a couple of hours learning Django as much as I needed to (and about 5 minutes learning Ubuntu since Linux is pretty much just Linux anyway) and got the project done on time, on budget. But I likely would never have even had the opportunity if I had just called myself a PHP developer.

      The point is the way I see it you're a Data Analyst. Period. There's nothing "virtual" about you. And if you're really an excel expert, you could probably pick up whatever other tools you need pretty quickly. (I actually got started programming by writing VBA for MS Access.) Maybe you add a descriptor such as "Independent Data Analyst" to indicate that you don't need to be hired as a full time employee, but think hard about what that word would be.
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      • Profile picture of the author Steve B
        This is just my opinion and could certainly be off base . . .

        But I don't think you're a data analyst.

        As has already been said, typically the admin staff of a company gather the data and present it in whatever form top management desires.

        Aren't all the spreadsheets and pie charts then given to management so that they can then analyze what the numbers mean and make strategic decisions based on their analysis?

        I don't think a company would want an "outsider" telling them what their numbers mean and where they should implement changes. To me, the analysis needs to be done by those that understand all aspects of the company itself, the marketplace and the mission/goals of the company.

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        • Profile picture of the author kilgore
          Originally Posted by Steve B View Post

          I don't think a company would want an "outsider" telling them what their numbers mean and where they should implement changes. To me, the analysis needs to be done by those that understand all aspects of the company itself, the marketplace and the mission/goals of the company.
          Actually, I think that's exactly what a company would want. Putting together a bunch of graphs and charts is one thing, making sense of them is another -- and to me that's where the real value of a service like this would lie.
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  • Profile picture of the author Samyum
    i am also a data analyst between and yes you can call them
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  • Profile picture of the author superowid
    If "Virtual" is not good.
    If "Analyst" is not good.
    Then maybe this is good...
    "Online Excel Consultant"
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    Hard time to keep promoting business? Don't worry!
    JUST USE MY GRAPHIC & VIDEO SERVICES
    . . . . . Let me help cutting your ad production cost! . . . . .
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  • Profile picture of the author Randall Magwood
    Honestly you sound like a "data processor". Or glorified data processor. Or maybe an "Excel Database Specialist".
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  • Profile picture of the author writeaway
    Sounds more like Virtual Data Formatting

    From the description you gave, you can easily outsource the bulk of that work to India or the Philippines.

    You still have to focus on the analysis and quality control though
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  • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
    Carl, reading your first post again, it really sounds like your "side gig" service is more like a form of graphic design. You take raw data and turn it into graphics, right?

    I didn't get that you were doing any real analysis on the data, simply collating and formatting it to fit specifications for monthly presentations.

    So calling yourself an "analyst" seems a bit inaccurate to me.

    Maybe something like "data synthesis and presentation designer"?
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  • Profile picture of the author ExcelExpert
    Thanks everyone

    There seems to be some confusion here so let me try to clear it up.

    My main line of work is an Excel Consultant. Companies call me in regarding issues in Excel and creating tools in Excel. This works well because people who want those services search for "Excel Consultant". They want their service provided in Excel so this classification does work as it is.

    The side line is a few of things put together. Firstly we have the creation of the dashboards i.e. the graphical element. Secondly we have the processing of their data - very rarely do these companies have a single report that the dashboard can draw on. Data from different sources need to be combined and processed before it can be used in the dashboards. Someone above described it as data processing which is not far off the mark - however, for some reason, I associate data processing as data entry. Thirdly, there is some analysis work going on in the form of spotting anomalies in the results and helping to identify the route causes.

    So, yes it is dashboard reporting, but there are more elements to it. Yes it is data processing, but again there are more elements to it and yes there is some data analysis in it. We will sit down with the client and pick out how much they need from those 3 areas.

    Here in the UK people who do that sort of work would have "analyst", "MI" and/or "BI" in their job titles.

    The word "Virtual" does concern me. "Virtual Office Assistants" are popular in the UK with smaller companies who perhaps cant afford a full time Office Assistant. My target market is medium and large sized companies. I dont think my target audience would have a problem with what the "virtual" element means in real terms, I'm just not sure they would use it in a search.

    So far everything suggested (included my own idea) works in some way or other but does not cover all the bases. Back to the drawing board I think
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  • Profile picture of the author professorrosado
    Maybe focus on the end result for the company as the nomenclature source for your service - the main benefit to your target market. Then add consultant or other designation to it.

    Maybe the benefit will grab more response than the "virtual" terminology which can always be featured in your descriptive content.
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