Microsoft, for now, is letting you register for free for its certificate program in Data Science. So if you want to be come a Data Scientist or core Data Analyst, you should take advantage of this unique opportunity.

You can register for it here: https://academy.microsoft.com/en-us/professional-program/data-science/ 

The Course Outline is:

1. Data Science Orientation 

Get started on your data science journey, as you learn what it takes to become a Data Scientist. Learn to work with and explore data using a variety of visualization, analytical, and statistical techniques.

2. Query Relational Data 

Explore Transact-SQL, an essential skill for database professionals and developers working with SQL databases. Go from your first SELECT statement through to implementing transactional programmatic logic. Focus on querying and modifying data in Microsoft SQL Server or Azure SQL Database.

3. Analyze and Visualize Data 

Explore tools in Excel that enable the analysis of more data than ever before, with improved visualizations and more sophisticated business logic. Learn how to import data from different sources, create mashups between data sources, and prepare data for analysis.

Learn how to connect and visualize your data with Microsoft Power BI. Find out how to import your data, author reports using Power BI Desktop, and publish those reports to the Power BI service. Create dashboards and share with business users—on the web and on mobile devices.

4. Understand Statistics 

Learn how statistics plays a central role in the data science approach and how data scientists exercise statistical thinking in designing data collection, derive insights from visualizing data, obtain supporting evidence for data-based decisions, and construct models for predicting future trends.

5. Explore Data with Code 

Learn the R statistical programming language, the tool of choice for data science professionals. Discover its basic syntax, starting with variables and basic operations, and then learn how to handle data structures, such as vectors, matrices, data frames, and lists.

Learn the basics of Python, including simple arithmetic operations, variables, and data structures. Explore Python functions and control flow, and create your own visualizations based on real data.

6. Understand Core Data Science Concepts 

Learn key concepts and techniques used to perform data science; including statistical analysis, data cleansing and transformation, and data visualization with R, Python, and Microsoft Azure Machine Learning.

7. Understand Machine Learning 

Learn how to build, evaluate, and optimize machine learning models; including classification, regression, clustering, and recommendation.

8. Use Code to Manipulate and Model Data 

Get up to speed with programming in R. Explore R data structures and syntaxes, see how to read and write data from a local file to a cloud-hosted database, work with data, get summaries, and transform them to fit your needs.

Learn to use Python to apply efficient, well-known mining models to unearth useful intelligence. Explore data visualization, feature importance and selection, dimensionality reduction, clustering, classification, and more.

9. Develop Intelligent Solutions 

Learn how to apply machine learning to solve common predictive problems, including text analytics, spatial data analysis, image processing, and time series forecasting.

Learn how to use Spark in Microsoft Azure HDInsight to create predictive analytics and machine learning solutions. Find out how to cleanse and transform data, build machine learning models, and create real-time machine learning solutions using Python, Scala, and R with Apache Spark.

Learn how to develop smart applications that use machine learning to engage intelligently with users in imaginative ways.

10. Final Project 

Put everything you've learned into practice by participating in a data science challenge and competing with your fellow students. Take on a challenge on the Cortana Intelligence platform, where you develop and deploy a solution that is tested and scored to determine your grade.

And you can go ahead to get the Microsoft Professional Program Certificate in Data Science (conditions apply). Register for the Microsoft Professional Program Certificate in Data Science

Have you gotten those business cards that portray the owner as an expert in a lot of things -- Life Coach, HR consultant, Serial Entrepreneur and Furniture Company MD? You can easily guess that he is exactly one thing -- an unfocused hustler. They mistake activities for relevance. The more they can put their hands into the more they feel they get back in return. They show up at every high power event. They join every exclusive club. They can talk endlessly about their dreams and ideas. They waste too much by doing to many shallow things.

image: wildchildsports.com

Growth in the real life is not arithmetic seriess. Not a 1 + 1 = 2 type of series. It is a geometric one. You start small and with consistency your results compound and rocket into the sky (skyrockets).

The genuine high achievers are extremely focused. They pick one field and build a skyscraper on it. Think John C. Maxwell, how many things come to your mind? I bet it's one thing -- Leadership coach. Think Aliko Dangote and business magnate comes to your mind. Think your favourite musician and, you guessed right, musician comes to your mind. There is a phenomenal power in focus. Breakthroughs in life and business come from focused toiling over time, not from
spreading yourself thin, toe-deep in too many things.

I have been doing a lot of business and current affairs reading this year. I have learned a lot from reading the stories of other businesses, entrepreneurs and politicians. Most people don't achieve success from stumbling on one great idea or being in the right place at the right moment. It is only in retrospect that it looks that way. Most people achieve success from repetitive activities in a field they are fully vested in and trying hard for many years until the geometric progress gets noticed. We all see the recent sudden-looking spike but not the many years of build up to it. So we call it overnight
success, luck, and place-time jackpot.

Today, I am telling you to quit thinking of success that way. Don't spread yourself too thin. Don't go looking for luck. Don't fill your life with meaningless relationships in the name of networking for success. Your network is not your networth, you have to ignore that b*shit. When success happens people will come with theories to explain it. People are already coming up with theories to explain Donald Trump's success. And you can be sure motivational speakers will come up with catchy phrases and quotes to sell whatever they are peddling in the name of helping you maximize your life and achieve success. Be like me and avoid them. Pick where you want to build your skyscraper and start focused work.

I am dedicating today's post to everyone currently facing tough times.

A couple of friends are being kicked out of jobs. Some running their businesses are hardly able to make ends meet. Number of financially triggered emergencies are rising. Many people are having a dark tunnel moment. And I want to tell you that there is light at the end of that tunnel. Hang in there, keep fighting and don't lose hope. You'll hit the light soon.

Life is a marathon over series of mountains and valleys. There will be times you hit the ground and have to crawl. There will be times you are on top of the world/mountain. There will be moments of gloom and there will be moments of ecstasy. There will be times nothing seem to be working fine and there will be times you'll feel like you've hit a jackpot. And you'll always find people in a better and worse state than you.

How do you manage your tough times?

1. Don't be too emotional and negative. It will only stop you from doing the things needed to move ahead. At this stage the worst thing to do is to shutdown and give up.
2. Fill your time with meaningful work. Let yourself be engaged and distracted by value adding work. Even if it's not helping your financial situation. 
3. Think about incremental progress. Rather than looking for a big leap out, focus more on small easy steps of progress. If your income - expense is out of balance, rather than trying to spend more looking for some big opportunity it would be better to cut down on expense and make incremental steps toward improving income. Also rather than trying to get a perfect job or big project/contract, you should take whatever small opportunity that comes your way and move up gradually. 
4. Don't hang out with pitiers and negative people. Avoid people who keep reminding you of your fall from high to low and make you feel demoralised. Better to hang out with strangers who can support/help/motivate you out of your tough times than those who can't stop trying to empathise with you.
5. Rather than think more, act more. Act more in the direction of progress. Don't let the pace of progress discourage you and make you engage in over-thinking. 

Lastly, pray and always keep your hope alive. Remember that it's just a phase.

image: theatlantic.com

Yay! My guy won!

I am short of words. I wanna say a big thanks to Donald Trump for the best reality show I have ever watched. It is super inspiring to see all these play out without editing. 

Not only has he taught me to go after what I want regardless of the odds and even when I believe the system is rigged against me, he has also shown me that the experts (media, egg-heads and rich guys) can all be very wrong. 

I can't wait to see what The Economist will write tomorrow.

And Bloomberg and Huffington Post and New York Times. Wow! All their previous overdone bashing.

I heard one or two very popular Nigerian prophets/pastors predicted a win for Hillary Clinton. I can't wait to read how they will defend the prediction. Anyway, anything can still happen, a miracle.

I guess the deplorables won!

Cool!

Yes. You can now take my full edition Business Data Analysis with Microsoft Excel course on Udemy for free.

I have got an issue with receiving my payments/revenue here in Nigeria so instead of letting money waste away I have decided to make the course free till I can find a solution to the income receival problem. This means this is a limited time offer.

I have once charged as high as $250 for the course and now it's got more contents than then.

It's very highly rated. Even you don't feel it's for you, be nice and forward to people who will benefit immensely from it. Business Data Analysis skills and Excel do get people jobs, promotion and the right kind of attention in the corporate world.

 Course Description

Microsoft Excel is the world's most used and versatile business analysis, reporting and strategy software. Having a deep practical knowledge of Excel will turn you almost superhuman at work and increase your productivity. You will be seen as a very efficient, highly competent and indispensable partner in the organization's progress. And, hopefully, it will lead to a much greater career role and opportunity for you.
This training is going to focus on making you highly proficient in the use of Excel for business data analysis and reporting the professional way. And most of this would be achieved through lots of samples that will be similar to what you'll need at work.

   

• The training is constantly being updated with new interesting content. The goal is to have the most comprehensive and up-to-date business data analysis with Excel course.
• The training requires having Excel 2010 and above. Excel 2007 will also work but you won't be able to practice the PowerPivot example.
• You also must be ready to practice every topic covered as there are companion practice along Excel files for every topic.

What am I going to get from this course?

• Constantly being updated with new content and covering more areas of business data analysis.
• Be more productive and creative in their use of Microsoft Excel for business and reporting
• Become proficient in using PivotTables for analyzing a large data
• Become proficient in the use of VLOOKUP, HLOOK, LOOKUP to get last item, INDEX and MATCH to make automated dynamic dashboarts/reports.
• Learn how to use Sorting in more advanced ways: multi-level sorting, sorting left to right.
• Learn how to create professional and great looking charts in Excel and understand when to use a particular chart type.
• Learn creative uses of Excel and a lot of keyboard shortcuts that saves analysis time
• Be introduced to Excel VBA, shown how to create a macro by clicking a particular button twice.
• Make a sample Excel VBA userform that gets data from user and input into a table in Excel
• Learn Power BI and other new interesting business data analysis tools by Microsoft

What is the target audience?

• This course is designed mainly for business professionals who use Excel a lot at work. It is built entirely out of my experience teaching over 500 business professionals over the course of two years on Excel, business data analysis and VBA. It focuses on giving you business productivity improving Excel skill and tips using practice files I built to mirror Excel consulting jobs I have done for companies. The course is best suited for people who currently used Excel at work and will benefit from improved Excel skills for reporting, presentation and analysis.
• However, if you seldom use Excel and just want a certificate in Excel for CV purpose, you will find it hard to put in the commitment required to finish this training. You should consider the Microsoft MOS training as it is more ideal for CV building.
• This course is also not for people who want to learn business data analysis but not with Excel. The entire course is Excel based.

Register for the Business Data Analysis with Microsoft Excel course on Udemy for free.

The business world is now data driven and every business professional must now be fluent in the language of data. William E. Deming had the most accurate way of portraying this new age: "In God we trust; all others must bring data." Without data skills you will have a tough time influencing in the business world. You must learn to manipulate data, make compelling data stories and leverage data for insights.

Microsoft Excel is the world's most used business intelligence tool. Its knowledge is even compulsory for an MBA degree and the investment world depends greatly on it. 

This training is aimed at making you extremely good in Microsoft Excel, dashboard making and business data analysis, teaching you with live business scenarios. It's intended for Sales Managers, Financial Analysts, Business Analysts, Data Analysts, MIS Analysts, HR Executives and power Excel users. 

The next training is coming up on Friday 18th November 2016 to Saturday 19th November 2016 for Lagos and Friday 27th January 2017 to Saturday 28th January 2017 for Abuja. There are just 10 slots open. You will get lunch, a branded DVD with over 20 training videos and practice files, training notepad with pen, a comprehensive training reference material, a training certificate from us (a registered Microsoft Partner) and free refresher classes. 

The training will be facilitated by a Microsoft recognized Excel Expert and the only Microsoft Excel MVP in Africa (there are just about 125 in the world). We have had participants of our trainings from Guinness Nigeria, Nigerian Breweries, Schlumberger, Chevron, Periscope, Brains and Hammers, GfK, Palladium Group, First Bank, Citi Bank, Dalberg, SaveTheChildren, Mobil, FMDQ, NSE, Biofem Pharmaceuticals, Total, Vodacom, Nestle, Nigerian Breweries, Delta Afrik, LATC Marine, Broll, Habanera (JTI), SABMiller, IBM, Airtel, Diamond Bank, ECOWAS, Ministry of Finance, Transmission Company of Nigeria, Nokia Siemens Networks and DDB. 

Reach Michael on 0700ANALYTICS, 08089382423, 08063125227 and mike@urbizedge.com or Hannah on 08021180874 and hannah@urbizedge.com to register. 

Lagos Venue: Kristina Jade Learning Center, 70b Olorunlogbon street, Off Alade Lawal street, Anthony Village, Lagos. 

Abuja Venue: Hotel Rosebud, 33 Port Harcourt Crescent, off Ahmadu Bello way, Garki Area 11, Abuja. 

The highlights are:

1) Data Manipulation in Excel 
We’ll show you, from a consultant expertise level, how to manipulate data in Excel. From data preparation/cleaning to data formatting the professional way. We’ll cover both the science and the art of data manipulation in Excel, and share very useful keyboard shortcuts and expert tricks that will speed up your productivity in Excel.

2) Data Visualization and Presentation in Excel 
A picture is worth a thousand words. And in the business world, it is often the only way to not bore your audience and pass the valuable message you’ve uncovered in your data analysis. We will teach you the foundations of data visualization – from the different types of charts to when to use each of them. Then we will work through business samples to learn the art part of doing data visualization right. You will learn the rules of business data reporting via charts and gain from our industry wealth of consulting for businesses in this vital area.

3) Large Data Analysis: Pivot Table, Pivot Chart and PowerPivot 
You should never say you know Excel if you don’t know how to use Pivot Table. It is that important. It is Excel’s premium tool for analysing large data – sales data, inventory data, HR data, transaction data and most business operations data. We are going to cover from the basics to the very advanced use of Pivot Tables. We will show you how to create dynamic reports with Pivot Table; how to overcome some of its layout issues; how to turn off the distracting controls in your final report; how to create calculated fields; how to create Pivot Charts; and the special tricks only a full-time Excel consultant can show youthat will turbo-charge you Pivot Table skills. Then we’ll show you how we analyse data of up to (and even above) 30 million rows in Excel. Yes, in Excel. Heard of PowerPivot?

4) Business Data Analysis 
In this section, we teach you the secrets that separate the analysis experts from the people with head/academic knowledge Excel. It is one thing to know the different tools in Excel and it is another completely different thing to know how to expertly mix them together to creatively deliver value at high speed. As full-time Excel chef, we will show you the secret ingredients that make companies consult us even when they have Excel super users in their organization.

5) Executive Dashboards and Reporting 
This is the level self-knowledge will not get you to. How do you create an uncrowded insightful visualization for a report with 37 rows? Then how about for your sales analysis report of many rows and columns? How do you show the different interactions in your data? In short, how do you bring your data to life and take it from a boring confusing mass of text to an interactive exciting visualization? You have to come to get the answers.

6) Excel to PowerPoint 
Management level reports are best presented in PowerPoints. When you’ve got a delicate story to tell, you have to guide your audience through a one idea/insight a slide PowerPoint. We won’t teach you how to design slides but we will teach you how to make your chart slides speak very loud. You will also learn the tricks of linking your PowerPoint charts to Excel. It will help cut down the hours you spend on weekly/monthly PowerPoint reports. We will also show you how to embed Excel files in your PowerPoint slide. No more sending separate Excel files when you can embed them right on the very slide you reference their data.

7) Excel VBA 
Forget about all you’ve heard about Macros or VBA. Let’s show you how easy and exciting it is to break into the Excel VBA world.



Reach Michael on 0700ANALYTICS, 08089382423, 08063125227 and mike@urbizedge.com or Hannah on 08021180874 and hannah@urbizedge.com to register. 

image: designcontest.com

Have only what I need, and not just in terms of material things but also intellectually. I won't buy what I don't need and I won't learn what I won't use.

There is a classic mistake most brilliant people make -- they think they can be good at anything they put their mind to. They are right and that is why this mistake is dangerous. It goes unnoticed. What they ignore, in having that mindset, is that you can't be good at many things at once and for a very long time. 

I constantly meet people who say they used to be extremely good at this and that. Sometimes with a mix of pride and regret. 

I have decided on what I want to be very good at and more importantly I plan to remain good at them. To achieve that I have to let go of unnecessary weights.

Our minds can only focus on very few things at a time and we lose mastery of what we don't constantly practice. 

I have seen people struggle later on in life with skills they were masters of. My parents are a close example. My dad used to be a lecturer at OAU. My mum studied English and used to teach at one of the biggest state schools in Osun state, Oranmiyan Memorial Grammar School. Today, they've lost most of the skills that career instills. Over the years, I watched as their English language communications skills deteriorated. Sure, they got better at other things. And that is the problem. You will always get better at the other things you abandon your current skills for. And if you are the very active, easily-bored type the list of those other things keep growing.

It is same with material things too. They not only take physical space, they also take mental space. More space than we acknowledge. I have made conscious effort to keep my material possessions at strict utility level. I don't get anything for fashion sake. Everything is purely for intense use. From my watch to my shoe. I noticed that I tend to wear a fraction of my shoes and clothes at any point in time. Usually one black and one brown shoe, and five shirts and four trousers. The rest just waste away. Now I simply do replacement purchase. But another black shoe when the current active one is dying, instead of unsuccessfully trying to shuffle between two or more black shoes. The same for my shirts and trousers. And jackets. Even my car dents are accumulated over months before repair, like fix everything every June and December of each year (actual is much less frequent). It is books I am having a tough time not overbuying.

As it is with all lifestyle change to go against usual trend, the start is not easy. But I am already getting better at it and able to resist/avoid the common temptations. I am now completely immune to all those talk about dressing big for big business deals. I have found a well-tested effective alternative. My offers are a take it or leave it one. No salesy or impression based negotiation. I will tell you the same thing in my undershirt and boxer, as I would if I was wearing the world's most expensive suit and chatting in my Ferrari.

I am now a minimalist. And it works fine for me.

The original title of this post is "How Small Businesses Should Cope with the Present Economy". It was a special request by one of my most esteemed blog readers. The idea, I thought, was to write about how small businesses can survive in this present economic downturn.

I tried to write about it but I kept deviating from the theme. So I decided to change the title to one that aligns with my deviation. 

I have some fundamental beliefs I got from being out there as a business person. 

Number one is that there are no small businesses. Being small is just a phase. Some stay in the phase longer than others. Heck, some appear not to have passed through that phase. 100% of the time, businesses that seem never to go beyond small are purely the result of the owner/management's strategic action (or lack of it). There is no business that is in itself of the small type. Think about the restaurant business, it is a classic example of a business you would consider small -- geo-locked, scaling restrictions, often owner managed, relatively small turnover. Then, think again. KFC, Domino's Pizza, McDonald's are no small businesses.

A business is only small when the owner/manager decides to stop growing it. There are many ways to grow a business, including the ones that don't scale easily. And no one says a business must always have one core revenue generating activity. Businesses can integrate horizontally or vertically.

Number two is that a business is meant to provide value in a way that grows the owner's equity. Provide a service people need and charge enough to stay in business + grow. Do this at all times -- whether economy is booming or economy is dooming. If the economy is not making it possible, then change your business strategy. Even if temporary, to weather the bad times.

I don't think the economy kills a small business more than it kills a big business. There are just poorly run businesses and well run businesses. Businesses that thrive are those that adapt well to changes -- both within the industry they operate and within the macro-economy they exist.

The big businesses that die are the dinosaurs. The ones whose organizational culture is built around, "that is the way things have been done here". The small businesses that die are the ones run by proxy. You see someone with a full-time job trying to run a business on the side. Maybe he started to take advantage of an unusual opportunity. I can bet you, when there is a sudden industry change or economic stress, his company will struggle the most. Imagine, a manager who delegates all his tasks and decision making to subordinates. Those subordinates will ruin him -- either by making too many mistakes or by being too good they compete with him and make him irrelevant. And that is exactly what people who run their business on the side do. But they begin to acknowledge that risk and decide to keep the business small, way below its potential. But still they get thoroughly battered by Porter's Five Forces.

image: linkedin.com

To build a successful business, whether you intend to spend a long time in the small phase or not, you have to be very agile. You need a management that sleeps/drinks the business. That thinks 24/7 about the business success. You need an owner-manager. Tough times come for all businesses and not just a bad macro-economy. Every industry faces its own internal changes and disruptions. You can't succeed if you run your business by proxy. You can't succeed if you act like a dinosaur. You can't succeed if you lose focus on creating value. You can't succeed if you don't have your hand on the changing pulse of your customers.

It is okay to have some bad business days, months or even years. In fact, it is better to have your tough (loss making) days upfront so you can swim in profits later. It is called management strategy. And that is how the once small companies like Amazon, PayPal, Uber and Facebook all achieved big-ness. They took their losses upfront. In fact, Uber is still taking its losses. But they are sunk costs, innovator's costs and killing the competition costs; not losses due to poor management.

Regardless of economy, people will still spend on value. Volume may go down. Margins may get squeezed. But well run companies, whether small or big, are like chameleons. They flow with the change, not fight/resist it. And they will not only survive but come out the other end better, as they grab market share from others who didn't survive.

I have created a new video tutorial series on Excel Macros. It will use a fun project approach to teach you how to increase your productivity and automate tasks with Excel Macros.

I have created two editions already in the series.

The first is a birthday reminder project. Say you have a contact list of clients/church members/club members/friends/crushes you will like to be alerted in advance when their birthday is this week. You are in luck! I have created a tutorial video teaching you how to create it and you also get to download the already done one for your personal use/review.

You can watch the tutorial video here and download the Reminder Macro file here.

The second video is on custom function. Imagine creating your own easy to use Excel functions for those complex common calculations you make and often forget the calculation steps. For me that calculation is VAT.

Every month I find myself going online to use a VAT calculator to figure out just how much I need to pay FIRS for monthly VAT. We all know that VAT is 5% but when you provide services and VAT is inclusive, then the calculation is not simply Amount x 5%. It becomes (Amount x 5%)/(1 + 5%). And I usually forget that formula. 

Well, in the second video I show you how to create custom functions and I used my real life problem as an illustration to help you learn custom function (user defined function) in Excel. It is a fun task to do. Now I just use =VAT() to do my VAT calculations. As a bonus I also show you how to create a second UDF that will calculate the Net Amount after VAT deduction. And it's perfectly usable for all my fellow naija biz pals.

You can watch the tutorial video here and download the actual file here.

Sometimes, everything feel slow. And that is what life is currently feeling like for me now. Slow.

Slow is, sometimes, good. In fact, it is a relief for me. Like I am taking a break. Catching me breath and trying to be more long-term focused. Transitioning from reactionary to proactive. Making strategic plans.

It is not just enough that one is on the right path, the path one wants to be, but also that one is walking that path the right way. Generally, there are only intertwined paths. Crossing paths. And your right path will have a lot of twists and bends. You have to not only make sure that you've identified your right path but you are navigating it the right way. If not you can end up in a loop, going round the same corner over and over.

I am trying to enjoy the slowness and do an evaluation of my journey so far. Also to check if I am navigating my chosen path aright.

Recently, it looked like I have hit a plateau. Doing the same things over and over again. Then I decided to cut out some things to make way for new strategic things. But, then, some things take time. You start now and won't notice any significant result for a while. And everything will feel slow. And that is what I am experiencing now.

I call it a strategic slowness. You should try it too.