This course was last updated on 10/2015.
We analyzed factors such as the rating (3.6/5) and the ratio between the number of reviews and the number of students, which is a great signal of student commitment.
In this Business Forecasting with Google Sheets video course, I introduce you to Google’s online spreadsheet application, Sheets and how to use it for forecasting.
Learn to forecast the future with your business data
•Why forecast? •Smoothing noisy data •Analyzing for trendlines •Transforming data •Forecasting future values A powerful skill to increase your value and earnings.
Millions of people use spreadsheets today, usually at the the office as a data entry form. Very few actually build spreadsheets unless that is their job. The dominant spreadsheet, Excel is often bought by students but rarely used, and most working adults only have access to it at work.
Until now. Google’s online spreadsheet “Sheets” has become a powerful tool through rapid iteration. While still not as powerful as Excel it does have a number of very useful, unique features. But most impotrtant. it is free to use. You can build spreadsheets at home, while on a cellphone, tablet or laptop while traveling, indeed anywhere with internet access.
This course focuses on using Google Sheets to do one of the most important business functions – forecasting.
It is a powerful, full featured, cloud based spreadsheet that can be harnessed for business forecasting in a collaborative environment, and the results directly embedded in live web pages for internal and external communication.
Content and Overview
The course uses Google sheets, a number of which are publicly available to the student. In addition there are links to web content and documents with more explanation of the concepts used.
I have broken down the content into easy to manage chunks so that you can focus on a concept and experiment and test yourself. You can complete this course in an evening or weekend and be ready to do work on Monday, although I recommend working with your own data and the data I provide to gain confidence in your new skills.
I start with some evidence of why the skills this course teaches are career drivers. Then we discuss what forecasting is. We start with the basics of smoothing data to remove noise, and then move on to techniques of implementing trendlines to forecast with. Throughout the course, each point is made using data that you see being analyzed in a live spreadsheet demonstration, that you can replicate on your own computer to nail down and internalize the technique.
Competency doing real work relevant to business is a career enhancing skill in today’s job market. This course will give you a strong start in applying those skills to your business and employment.
What am I going to get from this course?
•32 lectures and over 3 3/4 hours of content •Understand how to analyze historic data to predict the likely future •Learn how to use built-in and custom functions to extrapolate future values •Able to work at home on your computer at your own pace •Visual training method, offering users increased retention and accelerated learning. •Lifetime access to me to help with your own data. •Unconditional Udemy 30 day money-back guarantee – that’s my personal promise of your success! Update 11/5/2015
2 new lectures added on errors to avoid with trend analysis. These are common mistakes amateurs make that you can avoid in your own analyses and look more professional when examining analyses from your colleagues.
So start learning today. Because being a technology dinosaur isn’t going to get you a promotion or raise!
– Alex Tolley
✓ Make decisions based on business data
✓ You will learn how to use Google Sheets
✓ You will understand how and why to smooth data and pick the best approach to apply
✓ You will learn easy to understand, powerful forecasting techniques than can be easily implemented in a spreadsheet
✓ You will learn how to transform data to make forecasting easier and more accurate
✓ You will understand how to use charts to analyze data quickly and guide your analyses.
✓ You will enhance your business skills and make more money!
• The student will need access to a computer, preferably a desktop or laptop, to listen and follow the lectures. The student will also need a Google account, perhaps acquired for email, in order to use the spreadsheet application to answer questions. An account is not needed to just follow the lectures. However it is recommended that the student be able to use Google Sheets to try out the techniques on different data and to become familiar with Sheets’ functionality by “doing”.
• This course is primarily focused on young, profesionals who want to apply forecasting methods to the business they are in, in order to improve business performance and enhance their careers by becoming the “go to” person for using a spreadsheet. This course is appropriate for professionals who already know what a spreadsheet is and are somewhat familiar with what they can do, but have not yet acquired the skills to use it for forecasting. Because this course uses the free, browser based Google Sheets, the student can learn the techniques at home, with only an investment in time. The techniques can be applied to other spreadsheets, e.g. Microsoft Office Excel or OpenOffice Spreadsheet, although this course is expected to be reconstructed for these platforms. This course is not suitable for students who are completely unfamiliar with spreadsheets, or have no interest in enhancing their career prospects by helping their company solve planning problems.
The course costs $14.99. And currently there is a 40% discount on the original price of the course, which was $24.99. So you save $10 if you enroll the course now.
YES, Business Forecasting with Google Sheets has a 30-day money back guarantee. The 30-day refund policy is designed to allow students to study without risk.
Alex Tolley has created 1 courses that got 18 reviews which are generally positive. Alex Tolley has taught 624 students and received a 3.6 average review out of 18 reviews. Depending on the information available, we think that Alex Tolley is an instructor that you can trust.
Alex Tolley: Analysis and Coding Expert
I love analyzing data and finding informative patterns! In business, forecasting is a very important tool for planning. Companies can plan for growth, reduce unnecessary losses, estimate production costs, schedule staff efficiently, arrange for financing. and a host of other tasks that can be done. Forecasting helps increase profits for your business. Because it is so important, employees who can help with forecasting are a valuable asset, so learning how to forecast will lead to salary increases and promotions.
Spreadsheets
I grew up when computers were big machines in air-conditioned glass rooms attended by a priesthood of computer staff. I wrote my first programs on punch cards. By the late 1970’s I was writing programs on an Apple II and was captured by the power of early spreadsheets, like Visicalc and Lotus 1-2-3 to do calculations, test business models and profits. By mid-1980’s I was designing spreadsheets to analyze stock market data, analyzing company performance as an analyst and for trading in stock options.
Software Engineering
By the late 1990’s, I had turned my interests back to biology, writing enterprise sized applications to do bioinformatics on the newly emerging science of genomics. Despite the power of such systems, spreadsheets remained a useful tool to generate ideas which then could be written in software.
Analysis
Whether I was supporting businesses by analyzing data, or supporting scientists trying to understand their data, there has been an explosion in data analysis. This has been driven by more capable computers, many more sources of electronic data suitable for analyzing, and many more areas that have data that can be usefully analyzed. I’ve developed tools and models in a number of my areas of interest.
Teaching
I have taught at the University of California, offering my insights to both biology and business majors. I love teaching, especially honing my skills in conveying information and knowledge to the next generation. I hope that this enthusiasm shows in this and other courses.
