Cost Reduction For Managers & Management Consultants

A practical guide on how to cut costs in business & private life. Learn how efficiently to conduct cost-cutting projects

What you'll learn
How to conduct Cost Reduction Projects
Identify quick wins when it comes to savings, cost cutting
Apply the right frameworks and techniques from your management consulting toolbox
Analyze investments in Excel
Conduct make-or-buy analysis in practice
Analyze in Excel potential improvements in Retail, FMCG on the level of McKinsey, BCG, Bain
Find ways to cut cost of the business you manage
Requirements
Basic or intermediate Excel
Basic knowledge of economics or finance
Description
What is the aim of this course?Every company has to control costs in order to survive and prosper. Therefore, many firms on regular basis perform cost reduction projects. Cost reduction project may be part of a wider Performance Improvement Project or be a standalone project carried out only in one of the business units. Those projects are extremely interesting because you will be able to make a real change, create a new reality and improve part of the business or even the whole business. There are also very difficult as you have to not only analyze areas but also find ways to cut costs, improve the current situation as well as, on some occasions, implement the change. The skills that you will learn during this sort of project will be also very useful once you move to work for regular businesses or set up your own firm. In this course, I will show you how to deliver such projects fast and efficiently. In the course you will learn the following things:How to identify potential savings, especially quick winsHow to optimize processesHow to analyze investmentsHow to carry out make-or-buy analysisHow to spend lessThis course is based on my 15 years of experience as a consultant in top consulting firms and as a Board Member responsible for strategy, performance improvement, and turn-arounds in the biggest firms from Retail, FMCG, SMG, B2B, and services sectors that I worked for. I have carried or supervised over 90 different performance improvement projects in different industries that generated in total 2 billion of additional EBITDA. On the basis of what you will find in this course, I have trained in person over 100 consultants, business analysts, and managers who now are Partners in PE and VC funds, Investment Directors and Business Analysts in PE and VC, Operational Directors, COO, CRO, CEO, Directors in Consulting Companies, Board Members, etc. On top of that my courses on Udemy were already taken by more than 124 000 students including people working in EY, McKinsey, Walmart, Booz Allen Hamilton, Adidas, Naspers, Alvarez & Marsal, PwC, Dell, Walgreens, Orange, and many others.I teach through case studies, so you will have a lot of lectures showing examples of analyses, tools that we use. To every lecture, you will find attached (in additional resources) the Excels as well as additional presentations, materials shown in the lectures so as a part of this course you will also get a library of ready-made analyses that can, with certain modification, be applied by you or your team in your work.Why have I decided to create this course?As a manager quite often you will have to find ways to spend less, reduce costs. This is not an easy task as you will have to increase efficiency and quality at the same time. Luckily, there are a lot of techniques that will help you in a structured way look for savings that will help you improve the profits of your business. In this course, I will teach you how to find potential savings, estimate them in Excel and how to make sure that they don’t impact quality or efficiency. We will use that management consulting tools, techniques, and frameworks from top management consulting firms.This course will help you become an expert in the field of cost-cutting, cost reduction which will be extremely useful not only in consulting but also later on when you become a director or you move on to build your own business. By giving you exposure to real-life cases and analyses I want to improve your skills in analyzing the right things fast and implementing the improvements that you have identified. Thanks to this course, you will know what and how to do during cost-cutting projects to deliver ahead of deadlines high-quality products.To sum it up, the course will help you become an expert in cost reduction, cost-cutting on the level of McKinsey, BCG, Bain, PwC, Deloitte, EY, and other top consulting firms. That is why, I highly recommend this course to Managers, Management Consultants as well as Investment Directors working for PE, Directors, owners/founders of businesses that need better to improve their profitability and prepare for scaling.In what way will you benefit from this course?The course is a practical, step-by-step guide loaded with tones of analyses, tricks, hints that will significantly improve the speed with which you understand, analyze the business considered for acquisition. There is little theory – mainly examples, a lot of tips from my own experience as well as other notable examples worth mentioning. Our intention is that thanks to the course you will learn:How to identify potential savings, especially quick winsHow to optimize processesHow to analyze investmentsHow to carry out make-or-buy analysisHow to spend lessYou can also ask me any question either through the discussion field or by messaging me directly.How the course is organized?The course is divided into the following sections:Introduction. We begin with a little intro to the course as well as some general info on how the course is organizedCost reduction frameworks. In the second section, I will show you the main frameworks that will help you with cost reduction. We will have a look at the general framework. I will also show you the adjustments for FMCG and retail. Frameworks are great because they help you see the big picture. They also provide you with guidance on what to do to achieve your goalsQuick wins. In this section, I will show you how to identify the so-called quick wins – in other words, big savings that you can easily achieve, implement. We will start with 2 general frameworks (80/20 and low-hanging fruits) and I will show you how we can apply them to find the projects that will generate big savings.Process optimization in practice – Retail chain example. In the 4th section, I show you how to reduce the cost of the process in practice. For that, I will use an example of processes in a store. You will see how you should calculate the cost of the processes and what techniques you should apply to optimize processes and achieve cost reduction, savings.Make-or-buy analysis. In the 5th section, we will discuss the Make-or-buy analysis. You will be carrying them out after you have implemented the quick wins. They will help you find ways to further reduce costs. Make-or-buy analysis is an extremely important tool that will help you decide in a rational way what you should do in-house and what to buyInvestment analyses. A lot of money can be saved by a proper investment policy. In this section, I will show you how to analyze in practice investments aiming at reducing costsReduce usage. In this section, I will show you how you can cut costs by reducing the usage of certain things that your firm is usingSpend less. In the last section, I will show you how to reduce your own private spending, expenditures. These examples will help you understand and implement the general approach to cost-cutting. It will also help you reduce your own personal wealthYou will be able also to download many additional resourcesUseful frameworks and techniquesList of resources useful during performance improvement projectsSelected analyses shown in the courseLinks to additional presentations, articles, and moviesLinks to books worth readingAt the end of my course, students will be able to…How to conduct Cost Reduction ProjectsApply the right frameworks and techniques from your management consulting toolboxIdentify quick wins when it comes to savingsAnalyze investments in ExcelConduct make-or-buy analysis in practiceAnalyze in Excel potential improvements in Retail, FMCG on the level of McKinsey, BCG, BainManage efficiently a consulting project devoted to performance improvementFind ways to cut the cost of the business you manageWho should take this course? Who should not?Managers who want to increase the profitability of their businessManagers who want to reduce costsOwners of small and mid-sized businessesManagement Consultants and Business AnalystsInvestment DirectorsFinancial ControllersWhat will students need to know or do before starting this course?Basic or intermediate ExcelBasic knowledge of economics or finance

Overview

Section 1: Introduction

Lecture 1 What the course will be about

Lecture 2 A little bit about me

Lecture 3 How this course will be organized?

Lecture 4 How to deal with Blurry image

Lecture 5 How to reach additional resources

Lecture 6 How to find information and ask questions

Section 2: Cost reduction frameworks

Lecture 7 Cost reduction frameworks – Introduction

Lecture 8 Cost reduction framework

Lecture 9 Increasing margins framework – Retail & B2C Services

Lecture 10 How to increase the profitability for cosmetics producer – Problem

Lecture 11 How to increase the profitability for cosmetics producer – Sales Increase

Lecture 12 How to increase the profitability for cosmetics producer – Cost Reduction

Lecture 13 How to increase the profitability of a retail chain – Problem

Lecture 14 How to increase the profitability of a retail chain – Solution – Sales Increase

Lecture 15 How to increase the profitability of a retail chain – Solution – Cost Reduction

Section 3: Quick wins

Lecture 16 Quick wins – Introduction

Lecture 17 80/20 - productivity hacks

Lecture 18 Low hanging fruits

Lecture 19 Quick wins for cost reduction

Lecture 20 Quick wins for cost reduction – Remarks on Pontetial Savings

Lecture 21 Quick wins in Drugstore – Case Introduction

Lecture 22 Quick wins in Drugstore – Cost Structure

Lecture 23 Quick wins in Drugstore – Cost Reduction

Lecture 24 Quick wins in Drugstore – Summary

Lecture 25 How to estimate the potential reduction in costs

Section 4: Process optimization in practice – Retail chain example

Lecture 26 Process optimization in practice – Introduction

Lecture 27 Introduction to in-store process optimization case

Lecture 28 Workshop - Introduction

Lecture 29 Workshop – the scope of the project

Lecture 30 Workshop – Tools overview

Lecture 31 Lean manufacturing - introduction

Lecture 32 Theory of constraints - introduction

Lecture 33 Queing problem - Introduction

Lecture 34 OEE introduction

Lecture 35 Workshop – defining metrics and cost drivers

Lecture 36 Workshop – optimizing 1 process

Lecture 37 Workshop – optimizing 1 process - Excel file

Lecture 38 Workshop – timeline of the project

Lecture 39 The store and the processes

Lecture 40 Price Change

Lecture 41 Price Change - calculation in Excel

Lecture 42 Shelf replenishment

Lecture 43 Shelf replenishment - calculation in Excel

Lecture 44 Advising customers - Introduction

Lecture 45 Advising customers - General solution

Lecture 46 Advising customers - Details and results

Lecture 47 Advising customers - Calculation in Excel

Lecture 48 Cash till and info point

Lecture 49 Other potential improvements

Lecture 50 Process cost estimation by groups

Lecture 51 Summary of all costs and savings

Section 5: Make-or-buy analysis

Lecture 52 Make–or–buy analysis – Introduction

Lecture 53 Total cost of ownership

Lecture 54 Car vs Uber – Introduction

Lecture 55 Car vs Uber – Cost of own car Basic

Lecture 56 Car vs Uber – Uber

Lecture 57 Car vs Uber – Comparison of costs

Lecture 58 Make–or–buy courses – Case Introduction

Lecture 59 Make–or–buy courses – Make Option

Lecture 60 Make–or–buy courses – Buy Option

Lecture 61 Make–or–buy courses – Compariosn

Lecture 62 Make it or buy it – When to make even if it is more expensive

Lecture 63 Delegating some work to others – Case Introduction

Lecture 64 Delegating some work to others – Analysis of activities

Lecture 65 Delegating some work to others – Summary

Section 6: Investment analyses

Lecture 66 Investment analysis – Introduction

Lecture 67 Cost reduction Investment – Retail – Introduction

Lecture 68 Cost reduction Investment – Retail – Current Costs

Lecture 69 Cost reduction Investment – Retail – Future Costs

Lecture 70 Cost reduction Investment – Retail – NPV

Lecture 71 Cost reduction Investment – Retail – Solution in Power Point

Lecture 72 Cost reduction Investment – Ceramic Tiles – Introduction

Lecture 73 Cost reduction Investment – Ceramic Tiles – Current Costs

Lecture 74 Cost reduction Investment – Ceramic Tiles – Future Costs

Lecture 75 Cost reduction Investment – Ceramic Tiles – NPV

Lecture 76 Cost reduction Investment – Ceramic Tiles – Solution in Power Point

Lecture 77 Analyzing the profitability of sales channels - introduction

Lecture 78 Analyzing the profitability of sales channels -example of audit services

Lecture 79 Analyzing the profitability of sales channels -example of selling small services

Lecture 80 How to motivate not yours sales reps – Case Introduction

Lecture 81 How to motivate not yours sales reps – Trainings

Lecture 82 How to motivate not yours sales reps – Contests

Lecture 83 How to motivate not yours sales reps – Incentive trips

Lecture 84 How to motivate not yours sales reps – Loyalty program

Lecture 85 How to motivate not yours sales reps – Summary and Comparison in Excel

Lecture 86 How to motivate not yours sales reps – Solution in Power Point

Lecture 87 Sell non–core assets – Introduction

Lecture 88 Sell non–core assets – Cosmetics – Introduction

Lecture 89 Sell non–core assets – Cosmetics – Solution for the Hotel

Lecture 90 Sell non–core assets – Cosmetics – Solution for the Kindergarten

Section 7: Reduce usage

Lecture 91 Reduce usage – Introduction

Lecture 92 Eliminate fully certain expenses – Consulting Firm – Case Introduction

Lecture 93 Eliminate fully certain expenses – Consulting Firm – Available Data

Lecture 94 Eliminate fully certain expenses – Consulting Firm – Solution

Lecture 95 Use less – Cosmetics Producer – Case Introduction

Lecture 96 Use less – Cosmetics Producer – Available Data

Lecture 97 Use less – Cosmetics Producer – Solution in Excel

Lecture 98 Use cheaper substiute – Drugstore chain – Case Introduction

Lecture 99 Use cheaper substiute – Drugstore chain – Available Data

Lecture 100 Use cheaper substiute – Drugstore chain – HQ Analyses

Lecture 101 Use cheaper substiute – Drugstore chain – Boxes & Summary

Lecture 102 Waste analysis

Lecture 103 Decrease waste – Case Introduction – Plywood

Lecture 104 Decrease waste – Data Available

Lecture 105 Decrease waste – Case Study – Solution

Section 8: Spend less

Lecture 106 Cost Reduction in Private Life

Lecture 107 Spend less – Introduction

Lecture 108 General framework for spending less

Lecture 109 Why you need data on what you spend your money?

Lecture 110 How to get data on how you spend your money

Lecture 111 Analysis of Giuseppe expenses – Introduction

Lecture 112 Analysis of Giuseppe expenses – Data Available

Lecture 113 Analysis of Giuseppe expenses – Analysis by Reasons

Lecture 114 Analysis of Giuseppe expenses – Analysis by Categories

Lecture 115 Analysis of Giuseppe expenses – Joint Analysis

Lecture 116 Analysis of Giuseppe expenses – How to do it – Pivot Tables

Lecture 117 Reduce usage

Lecture 118 Reduction of frequency of usage – Case Introduction

Lecture 119 Reduction of frequency of usage – Analysis of usage frequency

Lecture 120 Reduction of frequency of usage – Estimation of potential savings

Lecture 121 Reduce how often you replace something – Case Introduction

Lecture 122 Reduce how often you replace something – Data Available

Lecture 123 Reduce how often you replace something – Analysis in Excel

Lecture 124 Reduce how often you replace something – Summary in Excel

Lecture 125 How to identify which expenses are worth reducing

Lecture 126 Eliminate some spendings

Lecture 127 How to identify which expenses that are worth eliminating

Lecture 128 Eliminate some expenses – Case Introduction

Lecture 129 Eliminate some expenses – Data Available

Lecture 130 Eliminate some expenses – Solution in Excel

Lecture 131 Renegotiate prices & find cheaper provider

Lecture 132 Renegotiate prices & find cheaper provider – General approach

Lecture 133 Renegotiate prices & find cheaper provider – Case Introduction

Lecture 134 Renegotiate prices & find cheaper provider – Data Available

Lecture 135 Renegotiate prices & find cheaper provider – Solution in Excel

Lecture 136 Total cost of ownership – Introduction

Lecture 137 Total cost of ownership

Lecture 138 Rent or buy a house – Introduction

Lecture 139 Rent or buy a house – Rentig cost

Lecture 140 Rent or buy a house – The loan

Lecture 141 Rent or buy a house – Buying the apartment

Lecture 142 Rent or buy a house – Comparison

Lecture 143 Total cost of ownership – When to use it

Lecture 144 Be healthy & stay in shape

Lecture 145 The benefit of staying healthy and fit – Case Introduction

Lecture 146 The benefit of staying healthy and fit – Solution Part 1

Lecture 147 The benefit of staying healthy and fit – Solution Part 2

Lecture 148 Low hanging fruits

Lecture 149 How to lose weight – Case Introduction

Lecture 150 How to lose weight – List of potential activities

Lecture 151 How to lose weight – Solution

Lecture 152 Set SMART goals

Lecture 153 How to get into shape – Introduction

Lecture 154 How to get into shape – Losing Weight Basics

Lecture 155 How to get into shape – Losing Weight Summary

Lecture 156 How to get into shape – Lifting

Lecture 157 How to get into shape – Running & Summary

Lecture 158 Calculate the value of your time

Lecture 159 Calculate the value time – Case Introduction

Lecture 160 Calculate the value time – Solution in Excel

Lecture 161 How to use the value of your time to make decisions?

Lecture 162 Make it or buy it

Lecture 163 Delegating some work to others – Case Introduction

Lecture 164 Delegating some work to others – Analysis of activities

Lecture 165 Delegating some work to others – Summary

Lecture 166 Car vs Uber – Introduction

Lecture 167 Car vs Uber – Cost of own car Basic

Lecture 168 Car vs Uber – Uber

Lecture 169 Car vs Uber – Comparison of costs

Lecture 170 Measure happiness per 100 USD spend and adjust your choices

Lecture 171 Happiness adjustment – Case Introduction

Lecture 172 Happiness adjustment – Data Available

Lecture 173 Happiness adjustment – Solution

Lecture 174 Reduce Liabilities – Introduction

Lecture 175 Reduce Liabilities – the Process how to do it

Lecture 176 Reduce Liabilities – Case Introduction

Lecture 177 Reduce Liabilities – the Mortgage

Lecture 178 Reduce Liabilities – the Credit Card & the Car Loan

Lecture 179 Reduce Liabilities – Debt Summary & Earnings

Lecture 180 Reduce Liabilities – Potential Improvements

Lecture 181 Repurpose assets that don't generate income – Introduction

Lecture 182 Repurpose assets that don't generate income – the Process

Lecture 183 Repurpose assets – Case Introduction

Lecture 184 Repurpose assets – Assets mapping

Lecture 185 Repurpose assets – Apartment 1 & 2

Lecture 186 Repurpose assets – Clothes, Domestic Appliances

Lecture 187 Repurpose assets – Land & Car

Lecture 188 Repurpose assets – Summary

Lecture 189 Check the end outcome of something and is it worth it

Lecture 190 How much is MBA worth – Case Introduction

Lecture 191 How much is MBA worth – the Loan

Lecture 192 How much is MBA worth – Pessimistic scenario

Lecture 193 How much is MBA worth – Optimistic & Realistic

Lecture 194 How much is MBA worth – Comparison

Section 9: Conclusions

Lecture 195 Bonus Lecture

Managers who want to increase the profitability of their business,Manager you want to reduce costs, cut costs,Owners of small and mid-sized businesses,Management Consultants and Business Analysts,Investment Directors,Financial Controllers