What do you use Excel/Google Sheets for?

[Leo N]

Last week, I had to create a tiny piece of code that scrapped some pages and saved in Excel files for my partner. She works with PR and I was thinking if I could provide spreadsheet services. It took me 1 hour and if she had done by hand, it would have taken 6 hours.

If you use Excel/Google Sheets, what do you use it for? I'm sure that a big number of companies use Excel and Google Sheets

 

[ffox]

Excel has an excellent range of tools to automate user operations. Apart from formula and multi workbook linking, you can use VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) and create complete cross functional suites. There are drawbacks though -

1. Excel is essentially single user. This means that when one user has a SS open, other users can look at it, but can't update it.
2. VBA is a portable script language. A script created in a workbook travels with that workbook when it is copied to a different machine.
3. VBA can be fragile. It can break when a workbook is moved to a different machine, it can break if cells, columns or rows are changed.
4. While it appears to be fast for small jobs it is very slow compared to C#, VB or Java, especially when the task is large.
5. VBA is a hybrid environment. Some functions derive from Excel and some from VBA. This means that syntax is not always obvious and there is often extensive debugging to be done, far more than would be needed with C# or VB.
6. Modern code free app and workflow development (Powerapps etc.) is fast replacing VBA and the like as development cost and time is only a fraction of that for any scripting.

While you are correct that Excel automation is used by a large number of businesses, app development is highly competitive. It is dominated by entrants from the Asian market, who will often happily work for returns that would be untenable for a UK resident.

I still do quite a lot of VBA development for existing customers, but actively encourage migration to Office 365, SharePoint and Powerapps.

 

[Amilcar]

As I am involved in business of restaurant. I use excel sheets for keeping the track of visitors and save their personal details. So that in future I can contact them and also share best offers of my place with them.

 

[Chris Ashdown]

I used to use SuperCalc which made my life hundreds of time better

 

[Ian J]

I used to use SuperCalc which made my life hundreds of time better

Wow. That's a name that I haven't heard for many, many years.

To answer the question I use Excel for almost everything in running my business

 

[Julia Sta Romana]

We use excel to keep track of our website content, in addition to the CMS. We do this to limit access to CMS to essential personnel only and have everybody else just use the excel file.

 

[Scribe Copywriting]

What sort of spreadsheet services are you planning to offer? Google Sheets / Excel is such a flexible tool for accounts teams, marketers, project managers etc.. -- do you know who precisely you're aiming for?

 

[Chris Ashdown]

Ian
I understand that SuperCalc was invented by a group at Harvard university and thought the idea was so good that everyone deserved it , and so deliberately never patented it, a act of kindness we all should thank them for

 

[Leo N]

What sort of spreadsheet services are you planning to offer? Google Sheets / Excel is such a flexible tool for accounts teams, marketers, project managers etc.. -- do you know who precisely you're aiming for?

I'd like to know how businesses use Google Sheets/Excel, how I could help improving their processes using spreadsheets, if they struggle to do anything related to Excel/Google sheets...Well, I'd save them time and money using my expertise in software development.

 

[Leo N]

We use excel to keep track of our website content, in addition to the CMS. We do this to limit access to CMS to essential personnel only and have everybody else just use the excel file.

So they include content on your website using Excel or just view the content in Excel?

 

[Leo N]

As I am involved in business of restaurant. I use excel sheets for keeping the track of visitors and save their personal details. So that in future I can contact them and also share best offers of my place with them.

So, you use Excel as a CRM. Do you prefer to use Excel rather than use specific CRM software for your industry?

 

[Leo N]

Yes, I use excel, it's the most complex and easy tool to use.

Completely agree, it's a universal tool and can save tons of time and money if properly used.

 

[Leo N]

Wow. That's a name that I haven't heard for many, many years.

To answer the question I use Excel for almost everything in running my business

I saw huge corporations using Excel to manage all the areas. People usually prefer Excel because the interface is known and easy to use. Sometimes we get lost in a sea of Excel Files and data spread among them

 

[Chi Doan]

The real benefit of this is available everywhere and tracking versions.

 

[ffox]

I saw huge corporations using Excel to manage all the areas. People usually prefer Excel because the interface is known and easy to use. Sometimes we get lost in a sea of Excel Files and data spread among them

Commonly known in IT departments the world over as 'Shadow IT'. Lumped together with unauthorised use of USB sticks and unauthorised sharing of files across departments.

Departmental managers love it and IT work hard to stamp it out. Data that is processed outside of the corporate information strategy is data that is not controlled. Increased penalties under GDPR raise the risk of this kind of operation to really high levels.

Do yourself a favour and start to look at Office 365 and G-Suite. These have the necessary governance tools to ensure that the business really controls the data it processes.

 

[Scribe Copywriting]

If you're thinking of writing scripts that crawl the web and scrape data for salespeople to cold call, or journalist databases for PRs to approach etc., then turn it into excel files, I've no doubt that this would be helpful to a lot of people, but I haven't a clue where you stand from a data compliance perspective.

I personally am amazed at how many people don't know how to use VLOOKUP functions, Pivot tables etc. effectively. Have you considered training / education?

 

[Amilcar]

So, you use Excel as a CRM. Do you prefer to use Excel rather than use specific CRM software for your industry?

Yes because it is more convenient to use Excel and access them from any part even if you do not have internet working.

 

[Ian J]

I personally am amazed at how many people don't know how to use VLOOKUP functions, Pivot tables etc. effectively. Have you considered training / education?

Did you really mean that to be as pompous as it sounded?

 

[Scribe Copywriting]

Did you really mean that to be as pompous as it sounded?

Haha! Whoops! Sorry -- I meant the OP could consider selling a training/education service that teaches people how to use advanced excel functions -- I didn't mean they should get some training themselves. It's a serious issue -- I've met a number of people in finance & data roles that don't know how to use these functions.

 

[George Owen]

Excel can be ideal for collecting data on consumer and competitor behaviour!

 

[Chris Ashdown]

I think it's biggest value is its ability to input so much data from different systems enabling the user to manipulate it in a simple way without having to write any computer code