There are a few different options out there when it comes to spreadsheet software but the top of the pile for most people remains Microsoft’s Excel. While it can seem a bit confusing with so many different elements to it, there is a strong case for why entrepreneurs should master it, even if it means taking Excel Courses in London or where they live.
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What is Excel?
Excel is a component of Microsoft Office and is used to create spreadsheets which contain data laid out in rows and columns. Excel has been around since the mid-1980s and was one of the most popular pieces of software that fuelled the rise of the personal computer in the 1980-90s. Creating a table of whatever size you need was something that had so many applications that the software was quickly being used by businesses of all kinds around the world.
Benefits for entrepreneurs
Come forward to modern times and there are more options out there including Google Sheets, but Excel is still the go-to option for most business owners. The ability to store data, manage it and sort it in many different ways has lots of applications for entrepreneurs.
Finance and accounting
Top of the list of reasons to learn about Excel is for finance and accounting purposes. Excel has many advanced formulas that can mean something that could take hours to do manually can be done in a few minutes. A good Excel course can teach these and make sure you get the most from the software. But even without the complicated stuff, it is ideal for simple bookkeeping, adding or subtracts costs or expenses and keeping track of earnings.
Product management and marketing
Customer lists and sales targets are just two examples where Excel can help with these areas. You can use it to help plan for the future, decide on the cost of a new product and easily produce reports to help see what is working and what needs changing.
Human resources
While Excel can help with areas such as payroll, most entrepreneurs use specialist software if they need this service. However, it can be used to look at trends, summarise expenses and look at pay periods in detail to help monitor business expenses and staff working patterns.
Examples of Excel in action
There are loads of individual examples of what Excel can do for a business. For instance, you could use it to:
- Summarise customer revenue by product to help find where your business could build strong customer relationships
- Work out customer discounts based on monthly purchase volume
- Create a budget for a small product by listing expenses in a sheet and updating it monthly then creating a chart to monitor
- Create revenue growth models for new products with customer forecasts
The advantage of Excel is that it can adapt to almost any business need that requires a table, data or even charts and formulas. The basics of the software can easily be learned and then there are many advanced features that you can incorporate into your business planning easily.
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