The Business Analyst & Decision Framework

Top-Prompts

Analyze markets, calculate metrics, and evaluate risks.

01 The Concept

Business analysis prompts are usually weak: 'Analyze my market and tell me what to do.' This results in generic slides or obvious advice.

This template enforces academic frameworks (SWOT, Porter's Five Forces, MECE), demands quantified calculation blocks, and requires a reconciliation matrix comparing strategic decisions on cost, complexity, and payback period.

02 Weak vs. Strong

EX 01B2B SaaS Expansion Analysis

You are a Senior SaaS Business Analyst. Perform a comparative analysis between two strategic paths for TaskFlow: Path A: Build Enterprise Security & Compliance (SSO, Audit Logs, SOC2). Path B: Target self-serve SMBs with team templates and automated billing.

[ANALYSIS FRAMEWORKS]

Evaluate both paths using Porter's Five Forces (specifically Barrier to Entry and Buyer Power).
Calculate expected payback period. Given: Path A requires $120k dev cost, adds $10k MRR. Path B requires $40k dev cost, adds $5k MRR.
List 3 risks per path. Score each on Likelihood (1-5) × Impact (1-5) with a mitigation action.

Format the final recommendation as a MECE decision matrix (cost, speed-to-market, security compliance, scaling risk).

→ Why it works

Demands specific financial calculations, forces risk scoring (impact × likelihood), and requires a comparison table rather than prose paragraphs.

EX 02Build vs Buy Authentication System

Act as a Senior Technology Consultant.

Evaluate Build vs Buy for our application's authentication system. Constraints: 5,000 active users, 2 developers, SOC2 compliance needed in 6 months.

[REQUIRED]

Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) calculation over 3 years for both options.
SWOT analysis for building in-house.
MECE Recommendation with a clear final verdict.

→ Why it works

Specifies user constraints (5K users, dev size, compliance timeline) and enforces TCO calculations and SWOT analysis for structured evaluation.

03 Key Points

01Structured frameworks: demand specific analytical tools rather than open brainstorms.

02MECE principle: require recommendations to be Mutually Exclusive and Collectively Exhaustive.

03Quantified metrics: calculate LTV, CAC, ROI, and Payback Period using explicit formulas.

04Risk impact scores: map risks on a likelihood × impact matrix with mitigation plans.

05Recommendation matrix: output a comparison table comparing options with clean weighting.

04 Model-Specific Notes

Claude is exceptional at applying analytical frameworks and maintaining logical consistency across calculations. Ask it to 'think MECE' to ensure no overlapping arguments.

05 For Your Role

Think of it like hiring a consulting firm. They don't just tell you 'A seems better.' They bring charts, formulas, risk tables, and a score matrix to prove it.

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