Sample of Technical and Strategic Projects

What I did

As part of my MBA at Ivey Business School, I cleaned CFIB’s Business Barometer® data for Canada and Ontario, covering the period from 2015 to 2025. Using this dataset, I built an analysis-ready panel in Excel that includes the long-term confidence index (12-month outlook), a 12-month moving average to capture underlying trends, and year-over-year percentage changes to measure momentum. I also constructed a Canada-versus-province view to highlight regional divergences in SME sentiment. In addition to the data work, I designed charts and a summary sheet that automatically update as new monthly data is added. Finally, I wrote an executive-style “SME Confidence Pulse” note that summarises the latest readings and draws out implications for SME hiring, investment, and credit demand.

Why it matters

Small and medium-sized businesses account for the majority of private-sector employment in Canada, so understanding their confidence levels is critical for anticipating real-economy outcomes. A timely read on SME sentiment is a leading indicator of investment intentions, hiring plans, and financing demand. This project demonstrates how a public survey dataset can be transformed into a consistent decision-support tool, providing clear, repeatable signals for banks, fintechs, policymakers, and SME support organisations.

How this can be used in practice

The framework is designed to be extendable to richer data sources, such as transactional feeds or firm-level microdata. With more granular inputs—like sales, cash balances, inventories, or expenses—the same approach can produce sector- and region-specific indices, cash-flow stress and liquidity indicators, and early-warning signals for lenders and other stakeholders. The outputs can be delivered as recurring narrative reports and interactive dashboards, giving decision-makers a concise “pulse” on SME conditions rather than isolated snapshots.

Tech stack

I used Excel for time-series cleaning, construction of moving averages, and year-over-year calculations, and relied on the CFIB Business Barometer® dataset as the core input. The workbook is structured as a reusable dashboard and summary: once new data is added, the charts, metrics, and written pulse update with minimal additional work.