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11. What-If Analysis

Come friends, today we solve "what if" questions: if orders grow by 10%, what is the profit? How many orders a day do we need to break even? Goal Seek, Scenario Manager, Data Tables and Solver are the what-if tools of Excel. Managers ask these questions all the time, and so do interviewers.

What you will learn in this module

  • Building a small, input-driven model
  • Goal Seek to find the input needed for a target
  • Scenario Manager for named best/normal/worst cases
  • One- and two-variable Data Tables for sensitivity analysis
  • Solver (brief) for optimisation (इष्टतम उत्तर शोधणे) with constraints

Live story: The break-even question

Suppose a new dark store in Kolhapur has fixed costs of ₹3,00,000 a month and earns ₹60 margin per order. The manager asks, "How many orders a day do we need to break even, and what if the margin drops to ₹50?" Trying numbers by hand is slow and easy to get wrong. This chapter answers it with Goal Seek, Scenario Manager, Data Tables and a short look at Solver.

All numbers in this story are fictional practice data.

The model (fictional monthly P&L of the Wakad dark store, sheet Model):

About this data. The data on this page for "11. What-If Analysis" is a made-up teaching sample. The names, shops, dates and numbers in the table are fictional. Amounts are in rupees (₹). Any business name here is fictional and not linked to a real company.
Cell Item Value / Formula
B2 Orders per day (input) 400
B3 Average order value, AOV (input) ₹320
B4 Days in month (input) 30
B5 Gross margin % (input) 18%
B6 Delivery cost per order (input) ₹28
B7 Fixed cost per month – rent, staff (input) ₹4,50,000
B9 Orders per month =B2*B4 → 12,000
B10 Revenue =B9*B3 → ₹38,40,000
B11 Gross margin =B10*B5 → ₹6,91,200
B12 Delivery cost =B9*B6 → ₹3,36,000
B13 Profit =B11-B12-B7 → -₹94,800

Inputs are typed values; everything else is a formula referring to the inputs. That is the golden rule for any what-if model.

Concepts in this chapter

  1. 11.1Goal Seek
  2. 11.2Scenario Manager
  3. 11.3One-variable Data Table
  4. 11.4Two-variable Data Table
  5. 11.5Solver (Brief)

The chapter recap is at the end of the last concept page.

Quick revision cards

Quick revision

Revise this chapter in two minutes. Save the cards on your phone or download them as PNG files. All names and numbers are made up for practice.

Revision card: What-If tools. Covers Goal Seek; Scenario Manager; Data Table (1 variable); Data Table (2 variables); Solver. With a photo of Ravindra Bagale and a short tip.
Card 1 of 2: What-If tools · Download PNG
Revision card: What-If: EMI, Data Table and Goal Seek. Example data table with Monthly EMI: ₹22,493.15; EMI at 8% and 10% (Data Table): ₹20,911.00 and ₹24,125.54; Loan for an EMI of ₹20,000: ₹22,22,899.
Card 2 of 2: What-If: EMI, Data Table and Goal Seek · Download PNG

More cards for every chapter: Ravi Sir's Cards.