13 Business Analysis Techniques and Their Importance for Business

Business analysis techniques are techniques used by business people and their teams to identify business needs or the process of finding ideas and solutions for businesses. Understand what business analysis methods are and their importance for business in this discussion!

What is Business Analysis Techniques?

Business analysis techniques are methods for identifying, reviewing, understanding and ascertaining business requirements. This includes finding solutions, solving problems, growing businesses, and seeking business opportunities.

The team used business analysis methods to get a clearer picture of what they were working on regarding business growth. The results of the business analysis become an important indicator for making decisions or determining the next step.

Business analysis will also provide comprehensive ideas, information, considerations, and knowledge to identify the business and ways to advance the business according to the target.

Importance of Business Analysis Techniques

The business analyst team has an important role in the company, including:

• Help collect, analyze and synthesize pertinent information from various sources.
• Help understand the organizational structure and the business as a whole.
• Act as a liaison, for example between teams, stakeholders, and other organizations.
• Help provide needed products and provide value to external shareholders.
• Identify business needs.
• Develop solutions to business problems, both short-term and long-term solutions.
• Help design strategies to achieve business targets.
• Troubleshoot problems, and parse problems, to make them easier to manage or fix.
• Determine how much resources need to be allocated in various situations.
• Identify areas that may need changes for better results.
• Completely reformed its policies, internal processes, and information systems.
• Recommend solutions to increase profit.
• Recommend process, product, service, and software modifications to achieve company goals.
• Build a business matrix.
• Allows understanding of the structure and dynamics of an organization or company.
• Identify potential increases or decreases, and prevent business risks.

When you finish analyzing the business with the recommended techniques, you will learn where the business is lacking, what can be improved, and what solutions can be done.

It should be noted, that business analysis can be done from every division in the company to find business problems and design the best solutions.

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Various Business Analysis Techniques

To analyze business needs, objectives, targets, and solutions, here is a list of popular business analysis techniques commonly used:

1. SWOT Analysis

SWOT Analysis

SWOT stands for 4 elements of analysis, namely:

S – Strength

Understand what is the strength of the business in its class (or compared to competitors).

For example, product advantages, positive brand image, best service, product store locations have unique selling points, etc.

W – Weakness

Some things from a brand or company are considered to trigger problems, create losses, or are not better than competitors.

For Example, bad reputation, incomplete products, service not up to standard, less advertising costs, toxic work environment, there is politics in the office, and so on.

O – Opportunities

Something that has the potential to be a brand advantage compared to competitors. External factors that are superior or have opportunities for improvement. For example:

• What technologies can be developed to improve business activities?
• Which new market segments or target audiences can we explore?
• What marketing methods haven’t been tried and turned out well?

T – Threats

All things, facts, or information that are known to have the potential to cause problems or harm to the company.

For example, based on market research there are changes in market trends, new regulations, implementation of new technologies, new competitors, etc.

2. MOST Analysis

MOST Analysis

The MOST analysis consists of 4 elements, namely:

M – Mission

Goals or targets to be achieved in the future. A clear and specific company mission can make it easier to analyze the factors to achieve it.

O – Objective

Derived from the mission, namely specific objectives that are more specific and have clear indicators of success. Indicators of objectives are goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely.

S – Strategy

The steps are taken to achieve the goal, then realize the mission.

T – Tactics

Tactics are short-term approaches to completing a strategy. Tactics are designed to execute a strategy. The concept is simpler and more specific, making it easier to understand and implement.

3. Business Process Modeling (BPM)

Business Process Modeling is a business analysis technique for process improvement and gives an idea of ​​how business processes will operate with different roles/methods/methods.

According to the International Institute of Business Analysis (IIBA), BPM analysts include:

1. Define and design processes.
2. Evaluate the technical aspects of complex business solutions.
3. Strategic planning.
4. Business model analysis.

Usually used for analysis in a project, identifying differences between current business processes and plans for future business processes.

4. Use Case Modeling (UML)

A business analysis technique for visualizing the interactions a user or customer can have with a system.

The main components of use case modeling in UML diagrams are as follows:

1. System
2. Actors
3. Use Cases
4. Relationships

Use case diagrams can be made simply to illustrate these four elements in a case study.

For example, a diagram explaining why (use case) two types of customers (actors) can interact with the bank (system) and how the outcome of the relationship (relationship) is.

5. Brainstorming

Brainstorming is one of the most popular and frequently used business analysis techniques.

Brainstorming activities involve groups conveying ideas (even spontaneous ideas from the team), creative thinking, root cause analysis, and recommending solutions.

6. Mind Mapping

Mind mapping is a technique for visualizing a topic, problem, idea, or solution. Mind mapping templates are similar to the structure of neurons in the brain but can be made in a variety of ways.

Use arrows to describe descriptions and bullet points, and their attachments. You can also create a mind mapping structure with online applications and PowerPoints.

7. 5W 1H Analysis

5W 1H Analysis

A simple analysis technique that involves 6 questions to find the root cause of the problem. This includes:

• What?
• Who?
• When?
• Why?
• Where?
• How?

After answering these questions, you will be able to more easily find potential solutions. However, this technique is not powerful for business analysis and is more suitable for use by individuals to solve their own problems in the company.

8. Six Thinking Hats

Six thinking hats is a business analysis technique to help you and your team investigate problems from new, clearer, and less conflicting perspectives.

Six thinking hats are represented in colors (hats) to explain different perspectives, namely:

• Green: Think creatively.
• Blue: Big picture or overview discussion.
• White: Logical data-driven thinking.
• Yellow: Look at the issue with positive thinking and focus on the benefits or value.
• Red: Perspective is soulful, instinctive, and full of emotion.
• Black: opposing thinking, critical appraisal, and focus on risk.

Usually used in conjunction with brainstorming techniques. You can consider all ideas, opinions, input, and so on carefully without having to argue about who or what is wrong and right.

9. User Reviews

It is a modern business analysis technique where analysts collect user stories, reviews, testimonials, suggestions, and criticisms.

The results of the analysis are used to design products/services and other business activities according to the point of view of the audience or customers as end-users.

10. Requirements Analysis

Needs analysis is the process of determining the end user’s expectations for new services/products or improved products.

The needs analysis process must be scalable, relevant, and detailed to ensure the product is designed as needed. Usually, a needs analysis begins when a team or stakeholder proposes a solution.

11. CATWOE Analysis

CATWOE is a business analysis technique for defining, analyzing, and solving business problems that often involve multiple and conflicting interests.

All these perspectives and points of view must be accommodated to design an ethical framework for creating a problem-solving approach.

The CATWOE analysis consists of the following elements:

• Customers: Who are the customers and how could the problem affect them?
• Actors: Who are the parties involved in the situation?
• Transformation: What transformations can be performed on the system?
• World View: A broad picture of how the effect of a problem is?
• Owner: How is the system owner related to the problem?
• Environmental Constraints: What are the environmental constraints that affect the implementation of the solution?

This helps a business analyst to prioritize different perspectives depending on the benefits.

12. PESTLE Analysis

Business analysis to analyze the root of the problem and create strategies to find solutions related to environmental factors constraints.

The PESTLE elements are:

• P – Political: Government policy factors and financial support.
• E – Economic: Factors of inflation, interest rates, energy costs, and labor costs.
• S – Social: Social factors such as lifestyle, culture, changing trends, social media, population, etc.
• T – Technological: Factors in the development of technology and information systems, the latest tools/machines.
• L – Legal: Regulatory factors, staffing, legal standards, etc.
• E – Environmental: Environmental factors such as weather, seasons, pollution, recycling needs, and so on.

In addition to solving problems related to these elements, it is also to minimize business risks that may arise due to these environmental elements to the company.

13. MoSCoW Analysis

MoSCoW stands for:

• M – Must Have: An essential must have in a business.
• S – Should Have: Important things or factors that are not essential or not vital, but can add value to the company.
• C – Could Have: Can be good if there is, but if there is not it’s also okay (small impact).
• W – Will Not Have: Not currently needing it, is not a priority for the business.

Those are some business analysis techniques commonly used to solve problems and maximize business growth.

Among these analytical techniques, you may also find that the right solution for optimizing your business is to create an online store . Online stores open up wider business opportunities that are not even affordable.