Hey! Thank you for the this video, I am looking to start freelancing as a Data Professional but I don't have enough experience. My questions is how do I get this experience? Are internships and personal projects enough or do they require other skills?
Personally I don't think these are enough experience. To go freelancing, you need to build some expertise, if you can find a job, then see if there is an existing freelancer you can assist as an apprentice. Maybe do it for very cheap or even free to gain the experience. You really need exposure to real world problems before you start freelancing.
Thanks for the video! If working freelance, would the company you are working for provide the tool access? What do you need to bring to the table and what is typically provided by the company?
It depends If the company is using PowerBI or Tableau, you may be required to have a licence for a developer version. For other tools like databricks or Alteryx you may be given access to their system. But for tools like Excel, you'll be expected to have your own license, and Python or R are free so you Will need to have your own copy. But be prepared to buy your own license in many cases, as its easier to do that than to be given access to the company one, as that may require many checks and authorisations to get you a license or even access.
Thanks, that's helpful. I've not worked this area for a few years where I was employed, but keen to pursue this as a freelance or agency offering. I learnt that much of the area companies struggle with is data correlations and interpretation, turning numbers into actionable tasks
Turning numbers into insights is a common problem faced by most companies, but they don't realise its not a technology problem. It's getting the right type of analyst.
I'm a data analyst, and when I pitch clients for my side hustle, offering services like customer segmentation and operational insights, they often respond by saying they already have ERP or CRM systems like SAP or Oracle. They don't see the need for a data analyst, as their current systems already provide the necessary information. I get stuck at this point. How should I respond to such questions? Also, I focus on providing solutions to SME businesses. How can I convince them that data analytics can bring real value to their operations? For example, when I approach a restaurant owner and offer to track their entire operation and provide insights into day-to-day business operations-such as identifying top-selling items-they often say they already know this information and don't see the added value. Could you shed some light on how to pitch my services effectively in these situations?
As an analyst, we can often see opportunities where the client can not. Often, they know top level what their best selling items are or when they are most busy. But analytics can help them understand if their best selling item sells alongside other products, which makes cross selling easier or in their busiest days if they are losing out on any potential opportunities. However, that will not convince them as most businesses, when they are doing well they don't need analytics as they are doing well. When they are doing badly, they need analytics, but as businesses is bad, they can't afford it. So you have two options. 1. When approaching a business, don't tell them what you can do. Ask them if they have any challenges or questions they would love to solve or have the answer for. Many of these you can't answer with data, but some will lend themselves to being able to be answered with data. But only if the business owner or senior people in the business are worrying about and ideally believe they can make more money from answering the question or save money. 2. Option two requires taking an element of risk. If you have case studies which show that if you analysed their transactional or customer data you could do something that would increase revenue by X or have savings of Y, then you could propose how much money you can make or save them by just knowing how many transactions or customers they have each month. The risk is that the client may make some or maybe all of the fees contingent on performance. Finally, evaluate what business you approach. Some, like restaurants, have very small margins, and so if they commission you, that comes out of their profit, so you need a compelling case that you can make them more money.
@@Shorful can you make this as a video like how should a data analyst find their opportunities and what all are the pros and cons of Advanced analytics that comes with ERP or CRM?
If you were to obtain a new client, how (and is it) possible to maintain them longer term? How would you charge for this and what services could you provide that would keep them paying a monthly retainer etc? For example, if they asked a company to provide analysis on their sales team data and want that converting to dashboards, once this has been done what monthly services allowe to keep that client longer term? Hopefully that makes sense. Thanks
Yes, that does make sense. I've had many clients on either a retainer or long term engagement. The key is to either do a role that they need but can't or don't want to do in-house. In my case it was a company that didn't want to do any reporting and insights in-house and we won the retainer to do this for them. Since most companies need regular reporting we were able to offer that on a long term. The other way was to work on a series of projects for a client on a long term basis. We did this by creating a long term roadmap which resulted in a series of projects which at each stage we demonstrated value. As the client saw value we kept getting future projects being signed off. The former resulted in a fixed monthly retainer, the latter was fluctuating revenue each month based on the project we were working on. However, there is no guarantee. Even we have lost long term clients either because the client found another supplier, had no budget, took it in-house, etc.
As local shop those don't maintain any records of products and sales even they don't have any websites so in that situation suggest me how to collect data from customers without use any investment tools... If use paper pen manually then time consuming so any free tools have in market or any other way to maintain customers records?? Advice for statergy in this case how collect data??? Please suggest me..
OK, you have to invest if you want to collect data. There is no way you can collect data without some investment. So if they don't maintain any records, the first thing to determine if how they sell the product. Do they use a POS or issue any type of receipts to the customer. If they do, then you can keep a record of that to analyse data by extracting information using OCR and ML If they don't issue receipts, then they must have a record of what they buy and, more importantly, when they buy stock. This can then be used to do some analysis. Obviously, with investment, you can deploy technologies or people to collect the data.
Greetings sir ,from India 🙏 I have one question ,do we need any technical/IT background and corporate job experience to start freelancing as a data analyst .I'm a bsc physics graduate student and I have 1 year of career gap .I have been learning Excel for the past 3 months and now I want to learn other skills to become a freelance data analyst .I tried various career paths like web development, graphic designing etc but at the end,I found it out that this career path suits me the most. Please guide me sir🙏🙏I'll look forward to your reply
You don't need an IT background, but as I mentioned in my video you do need to know SQL and some business domain. You can't really freelance with some basics in place.
Most freelancers work on their own. They choose not to work with anyone. They may form a network with others who provide complimentary skills if they want to do a project which requires more skills then they have. If you are referring to working with a freelancer as a trainee, I have seen some, including myself in the past, who mentored junior data analysts as interns. But this will be typically unpaid or paid very low.
@Shorful Yes. I've done a lot of analysis in academia, but need work experience for corporate. Interning for a freelancer with years of experience is 10X better than interning at a company obsessed with hierarchy over outcomes. Post link, I'll send my CV.
I currently don't do freelancing, I run a company. I would suggest you check LinkedIn and identify individuals who are freelancers or contractors and then approach them with your proposal. You never know, someone might offer you an internship.
Great brother very well explained. make more videos like this.
Thank you
Please do share my channel and get everyone to subscribe.
I want to hit 10k subscribers this year
Great explanation brother, I subscribed your channel today. Thanks
Thank you
Hey! Thank you for the this video, I am looking to start freelancing as a Data Professional but I don't have enough experience. My questions is how do I get this experience? Are internships and personal projects enough or do they require other skills?
Personally I don't think these are enough experience.
To go freelancing, you need to build some expertise, if you can find a job, then see if there is an existing freelancer you can assist as an apprentice. Maybe do it for very cheap or even free to gain the experience.
You really need exposure to real world problems before you start freelancing.
@@Shorful Really appreciate the reply and the advice thank you!
Pleasure to help
Thanks for the video! If working freelance, would the company you are working for provide the tool access? What do you need to bring to the table and what is typically provided by the company?
It depends
If the company is using PowerBI or Tableau, you may be required to have a licence for a developer version. For other tools like databricks or Alteryx you may be given access to their system.
But for tools like Excel, you'll be expected to have your own license, and Python or R are free so you Will need to have your own copy.
But be prepared to buy your own license in many cases, as its easier to do that than to be given access to the company one, as that may require many checks and authorisations to get you a license or even access.
Thanks, that's helpful. I've not worked this area for a few years where I was employed, but keen to pursue this as a freelance or agency offering. I learnt that much of the area companies struggle with is data correlations and interpretation, turning numbers into actionable tasks
Turning numbers into insights is a common problem faced by most companies, but they don't realise its not a technology problem. It's getting the right type of analyst.
Check out this video you might find useful
czcams.com/video/FlSEaJkYj4s/video.html
I'm a data analyst, and when I pitch clients for my side hustle, offering services like customer segmentation and operational insights, they often respond by saying they already have ERP or CRM systems like SAP or Oracle. They don't see the need for a data analyst, as their current systems already provide the necessary information.
I get stuck at this point. How should I respond to such questions? Also, I focus on providing solutions to SME businesses. How can I convince them that data analytics can bring real value to their operations? For example, when I approach a restaurant owner and offer to track their entire operation and provide insights into day-to-day business operations-such as identifying top-selling items-they often say they already know this information and don't see the added value. Could you shed some light on how to pitch my services effectively in these situations?
As an analyst, we can often see opportunities where the client can not. Often, they know top level what their best selling items are or when they are most busy. But analytics can help them understand if their best selling item sells alongside other products, which makes cross selling easier or in their busiest days if they are losing out on any potential opportunities.
However, that will not convince them as most businesses, when they are doing well they don't need analytics as they are doing well. When they are doing badly, they need analytics, but as businesses is bad, they can't afford it.
So you have two options.
1. When approaching a business, don't tell them what you can do. Ask them if they have any challenges or questions they would love to solve or have the answer for. Many of these you can't answer with data, but some will lend themselves to being able to be answered with data. But only if the business owner or senior people in the business are worrying about and ideally believe they can make more money from answering the question or save money.
2. Option two requires taking an element of risk. If you have case studies which show that if you analysed their transactional or customer data you could do something that would increase revenue by X or have savings of Y, then you could propose how much money you can make or save them by just knowing how many transactions or customers they have each month. The risk is that the client may make some or maybe all of the fees contingent on performance.
Finally, evaluate what business you approach. Some, like restaurants, have very small margins, and so if they commission you, that comes out of their profit, so you need a compelling case that you can make them more money.
@@Shorful can you make this as a video like how should a data analyst find their opportunities and what all are the pros and cons of Advanced analytics that comes with ERP or CRM?
Ok, I will try and do that
If you were to obtain a new client, how (and is it) possible to maintain them longer term?
How would you charge for this and what services could you provide that would keep them paying a monthly retainer etc?
For example, if they asked a company to provide analysis on their sales team data and want that converting to dashboards, once this has been done what monthly services allowe to keep that client longer term?
Hopefully that makes sense.
Thanks
Yes, that does make sense.
I've had many clients on either a retainer or long term engagement.
The key is to either do a role that they need but can't or don't want to do in-house. In my case it was a company that didn't want to do any reporting and insights in-house and we won the retainer to do this for them. Since most companies need regular reporting we were able to offer that on a long term.
The other way was to work on a series of projects for a client on a long term basis. We did this by creating a long term roadmap which resulted in a series of projects which at each stage we demonstrated value. As the client saw value we kept getting future projects being signed off.
The former resulted in a fixed monthly retainer, the latter was fluctuating revenue each month based on the project we were working on.
However, there is no guarantee. Even we have lost long term clients either because the client found another supplier, had no budget, took it in-house, etc.
@@Shorful thanks for your reply. Really helpful 👌
As local shop those don't maintain any records of products and sales even they don't have any websites so in that situation suggest me how to collect data from customers without use any investment tools...
If use paper pen manually then time consuming so any free tools have in market or any other way to maintain customers records??
Advice for statergy in this case how collect data???
Please suggest me..
OK, you have to invest if you want to collect data. There is no way you can collect data without some investment.
So if they don't maintain any records, the first thing to determine if how they sell the product.
Do they use a POS or issue any type of receipts to the customer. If they do, then you can keep a record of that to analyse data by extracting information using OCR and ML
If they don't issue receipts, then they must have a record of what they buy and, more importantly, when they buy stock. This can then be used to do some analysis.
Obviously, with investment, you can deploy technologies or people to collect the data.
@@Shorful thanks a lot .
If I have face any problems or doubts please kindly help me in future
Greetings sir ,from India 🙏
I have one question ,do we need any technical/IT background and corporate job experience to start freelancing as a data analyst .I'm a bsc physics graduate student and I have 1 year of career gap .I have been learning Excel for the past 3 months and now I want to learn other skills to become a freelance data analyst .I tried various career paths like web development, graphic designing etc but at the end,I found it out that this career path suits me the most.
Please guide me sir🙏🙏I'll look forward to your reply
You don't need an IT background, but as I mentioned in my video you do need to know SQL and some business domain.
You can't really freelance with some basics in place.
What do we need to do to work FOR a freelance data analyst?
🇿🇦🇿🇦🇿🇦
Most freelancers work on their own. They choose not to work with anyone. They may form a network with others who provide complimentary skills if they want to do a project which requires more skills then they have.
If you are referring to working with a freelancer as a trainee, I have seen some, including myself in the past, who mentored junior data analysts as interns. But this will be typically unpaid or paid very low.
@Shorful Yes. I've done a lot of analysis in academia, but need work experience for corporate. Interning for a freelancer with years of experience is 10X better than interning at a company obsessed with hierarchy over outcomes.
Post link, I'll send my CV.
I currently don't do freelancing, I run a company.
I would suggest you check LinkedIn and identify individuals who are freelancers or contractors and then approach them with your proposal.
You never know, someone might offer you an internship.
Are you bangladeshi?
Yes, I am.
@@Shorful Nice accent and plz keep uploading more videos❤
Thank you