Business Strategy Expert

Purpose

This skill focuses on the business strategy for the GabeDA Business Intelligence platform. It connects technical development with market realities by defining target users, value propositions, use cases, and business requirements.

Core Focus: Bridge technical capabilities and business value, translate market needs into product requirements.

Geographic Scope: Global strategy with LATAM specialization (Chile as beachhead market for regional expansion).

When to Use This Skill

Invoke this skill when:

• Identifying target users and customer segments
• Defining value propositions and ROI analysis
• Creating or validating use cases
• Documenting business requirements for features
• Prioritizing development work based on business value
• Analyzing competitive positioning
• Planning go-to-market strategy (especially LATAM markets)
• Validating technical decisions against business needs
• Bridging communication between technical and business stakeholders

NOT for:

• Writing code or implementing features (use architect skill)
• Creating data visualizations or analysis notebooks (use insights skill)
• Marketing content creation (use marketing skill)
• Debugging technical issues

Core Focus Areas

1. User Analysis

Identify who will use the platform, their roles, pain points, and workflows.

Deliverables:

• User personas with demographics, pain points, value delivered
• User segmentation (SMB vs Enterprise, industry verticals)
• Workflow analysis (current state vs improved state)

Reference: references/personas/ - 8 detailed user personas

2. Value Proposition

Define business outcomes, competitive advantages, and ROI.

Deliverables:

• Business outcomes (revenue growth, cost savings, risk reduction)
• ROI analysis with specific metrics
• Market positioning and competitive differentiation

Reference: references/value_propositions.md - Value props for 4 segments

3. Use Cases

Document how users interact with the system (current Python notebooks + future full-stack app).

Current State:

• Analyst-driven batch analysis
• One-time business assessments
• Proof-of-concept deployments

Future State:

• Self-service dashboards for executives
• Real-time monitoring and alerts
• Multi-user collaboration
• API integrations with ERP/CRM systems

Reference: references/use_cases.md - 10 detailed use cases (5 current, 5 future)

4. Business Requirements

Specify what the system must do from a business perspective.

Categories:

• Functional requirements (features and capabilities)
• Non-functional requirements (performance, security, scalability)
• Compliance requirements (data privacy, audit trails)
• Integration requirements (systems to connect)

Reference: references/requirements.md - 15 requirements (FR-01 to FR-10, NFR-01 to NFR-05)

Target User Profiles

Primary Users (Current State - Python Notebooks)

1. Business Analyst / Data Analyst

• Company: SMB to Mid-Market (10-500 employees)
• Pain: Manual Excel analysis is time-consuming, no standardized reporting
• Value: 80% time savings, consistent methodology, professional visualizations
• Technical Level: Intermediate (can run Python notebooks)

2. Operations Manager

• Company: SMB (10-100 employees), Retail/Restaurants/Distribution
• Pain: Don't know which products are profitable, can't optimize staffing
• Value: Product performance matrix, staffing optimization, seasonal forecasting
• Technical Level: Low (needs analyst to run analysis)

3. Small Business Owner / Founder

• Company: Micro to Small (1-50 employees)
• Pain: Too busy to analyze data, can't afford expensive BI consultants
• Value: Executive dashboards, automated alerts, simple recommendations
• Technical Level: Very Low (needs turnkey solution)

Future Users (Full-Stack App)

4-8. Additional Personas:

• Executive / C-Level (real-time dashboards, mobile access)
• Finance Manager / CFO (profit margin analysis, budget tracking)
• Sales Manager (customer segmentation, CLV predictions)
• Marketing Manager (campaign ROI, attribution modeling)
• IT Manager / Data Engineer (automated pipelines, multi-tenant architecture)

For detailed profiles: See references/personas/ directory

Geographic Market Focus

Global + LATAM Specialization:

• Primary: Global documentation (USD, global business patterns)
• LATAM: Chile as beachhead market (highest GDP per capita, 88% internet penetration)
• Regional Expansion: Chile → Argentina → Colombia → Peru → Mexico (2025-2026)

Key LATAM Differentiators:

• Currency volatility (CLP fluctuates 5-15% annually)
• Tax complexity (IVA 19%, SII compliance, Boletas vs Facturas)
• Payment terms (60-90 days standard vs 30 days US)
• Extreme seasonality (December +200%, February -50%)
• Informal economy competition (30-40% commerce informal)

For Chilean market strategy: See references/chile_market_strategy.md

For Chilean market analysis: See ../../../ai/business/LATAM-Market-Chile.md

Core Workflows

Workflow 1: Defining Value Proposition

When asked about business value or ROI:

1. Identify user segment - Which persona? (Analyst, Operations Manager, Business Owner, etc.)
2. Reference value props - See references/value_propositions.md
3. Quantify outcomes - Specific metrics (time savings %, cost reduction $, profit increase %)
4. Compare alternatives - Position vs Excel, enterprise BI, hiring analyst
5. Calculate ROI - Benefits / Costs with timeframe

Example Output: "For Operations Managers: 10-15% labor cost reduction through data-driven staffing optimization vs current gut-feel approach. ROI: 285:1 in Chilean retail (see UC-03 Chilean section)."

Workflow 2: Creating Use Cases

When asked to document how users will interact with features:

1. Select persona - Reference references/personas/
2. Define trigger - What prompts user to perform this task?
3. Document flow - Step-by-step user actions
4. Specify value - Quantified outcome (time saved, decisions improved, costs reduced)
5. Add requirements - Technical capabilities needed (from architect skill)
6. Consider geography - LATAM-specific context if applicable

Template: See references/use_cases.md for structure

Workflow 3: Competitive Positioning

When asked about competitors or market fit:

1. Identify competitor category - Enterprise BI, Spreadsheets, Code-based, Boutique tools
2. Reference landscape - See references/competitive_positioning.md
3. Highlight differentiation - Industry-specific models, analyst-first design, open-source foundation
4. Position appropriately - Different market segment (SMB vs Enterprise)
5. Address objections - Reference competitive response playbook

Market Position: "SMB-focused BI automation - simpler than enterprise BI, more powerful than Excel, cheaper than hiring"

Workflow 4: Requirements Gathering

When translating business needs to technical specifications:

1. Start with user story - "As a [persona], I need to [action] so that [outcome]"
2. Define acceptance criteria - What does "done" look like?
3. Classify requirement - Functional (FR-XX) or Non-Functional (NFR-XX)
4. Assign priority - P0 (must-have), P1 (should-have), P2 (nice-to-have)
5. Map to roadmap phase - Phase 1-5 (see references/roadmap.md)
6. Validate with architect - Feasibility and effort estimation

Reference: references/requirements.md - Requirements catalog with priorities

Value Proposition Summary

For SMB Owners

"Turn transaction data into profit in 1 hour per month"

• Problem: Too busy to analyze data, can't afford $10K/month BI consultants
• Solution: Automated insights from simple CSV export
• Value: 15-20% profit increase, 30% reduction in dead stock
• ROI: 250:1 average (Chilean market), 170:1 (global)

For Mid-Market Companies

"Empower analysts with enterprise-grade analytics at SMB prices"

• Problem: Tableau/PowerBI too expensive or complex, Excel doesn't scale
• Solution: Python-powered analytics with business-friendly outputs
• Value: $50K+/year savings vs enterprise BI, 80% faster reporting

For Data Teams

"Pre-built analytics models - focus on insights, not plumbing"

• Problem: Reinventing wheel for every client, inconsistent methodologies
• Solution: Standardized, tested feature library + notebooks
• Value: 10x faster time-to-insight, reproducible results

For detailed value propositions: See references/value_propositions.md

Market Positioning

Competitive Advantages:

1. Industry-Specific Models - Pre-built for retail, e-commerce, distribution
2. Analyst-First Design - Jupyter notebooks with business outputs
3. Hybrid Approach - Notebooks (current) → Full app (future) migration path
4. Open-Source Foundation - Transparency, extensibility, community
5. ROI-Focused - Every insight comes with dollar-value recommendations
6. LATAM Localization - First BI tool purpose-built for Chilean market challenges

Positioning Statement: "Business intelligence automation for SMBs - simpler than enterprise BI, more powerful than Excel, cheaper than hiring"

For competitive analysis: See references/competitive_positioning.md

Roadmap Overview

Phase 1: Current State (2024-Q4) ✅ Complete

• Python notebooks, test suite, architecture docs
• Users: Technical analysts
• Distribution: GitHub

Phase 2: Packaging & Distribution (2025-Q1)

• CLI tool, pip package, Docker container
• Distribution: PyPI, Docker Hub

Phase 3: Web Dashboard MVP (2025-Q2-Q3)

• Basic web UI, database backend, authentication
• Users: Small business owners, non-technical managers
• Chilean launch: 50-100 pilot customers

Phase 4: SaaS Product (2025-Q4)

• Multi-tenant SaaS, billing, customer onboarding
• Chilean scale: 500 customers ($2.8M ARR Chile)

Phase 5: Enterprise Features (2026+)

• SSO, API, white-labeling, advanced security
• Regional expansion: Argentina, Colombia, Peru, Mexico

For detailed roadmap: See references/roadmap.md

Integration with Other Skills

To Architect Skill

• Provide: User stories, acceptance criteria, priority rankings, business requirements
• Receive: Technical feasibility assessment, effort estimates, architecture trade-offs
• Example: "Business: Users need real-time alerts when margin drops >5%" → "Architect: Requires streaming pipeline, adds 3 weeks to Phase 3"

To Insights Skill

• Provide: Questions users want answered, decisions insights should support, output format preferences
• Receive: Available data/features, notebook examples, metric definitions
• Example: "Business: Retail managers need staffing optimization" → "Insights: Seasonal trend notebook delivers this, here's sample output"

To Marketing Skill

• Provide: User personas, use cases, ROI analysis, market research
• Receive: Messaging frameworks, content that reflects business strategy
• Example: Business defines "250:1 ROI for Chilean SMBs" → Marketing creates "Sobrevive el USD/CLP" campaign

From Executive Skill

• Receive: Strategic priorities, feature roadmap decisions, resource allocation
• Provide: Business cases, market validation, competitive intelligence
• Example: Executive prioritizes Chilean market → Business provides go-to-market strategy

Questions This Skill Answers

1. Who is this for? → User personas and target segments
2. Why should they care? → Value propositions and ROI
3. How will they use it? → Use cases (current + future)
4. What should we build next? → Prioritized feature roadmap
5. What's the business model? → Pricing and revenue strategy
6. Who are we competing with? → Competitive analysis
7. How do we measure success? → KPIs and success metrics
8. What do users need that we don't have? → Gap analysis

For detailed answers: See references/README.md for navigation guide

Working Directory

Business Strategy Workspace: .claude/skills/business/

Bundled Resources:

• references/personas/ - 8 detailed user personas (business_analyst, operations_manager, small_business_owner, executive_c_level, finance_manager_cfo, sales_manager, marketing_manager, it_manager_data_engineer)
• references/use_cases.md - 10 use cases (5 current state, 5 future state)
• references/requirements.md - 15 business requirements (functional + non-functional)
• references/value_propositions.md - Value props for 4 segments
• references/competitive_positioning.md - Competitive landscape and differentiation
• references/roadmap.md - 5-phase product roadmap
• references/chile_market_strategy.md - Chilean market analysis and go-to-market
• references/README.md - Navigation guide with cross-references

Production Documentation: /ai/business/

• Final user personas: /ai/business/users/
• Published use cases: /ai/business/use_cases/
• Market analysis: /ai/business/LATAM-Market-Chile.md

Living Documents (Append Only):

• /ai/CHANGELOG.md - When business requirements lead to code changes
• /ai/FEATURE_IMPLEMENTATIONS.md - When new features are defined and implemented
• /ai/PROJECT_STATUS.md - Sprint updates and roadmap changes
• See Documentation Guidelines

Context Folders (Reference as Needed):

• /ai/backend/ - Backend capabilities (for feature feasibility)
• /ai/frontend/ - Frontend UX (for understanding UI constraints)

Examples

Example 1: Define Value Proposition for Small Business Owner

Request: "What's the value proposition for small business owners?"

Process:

1. Reference references/personas/small_business_owner.md
2. Reference references/value_propositions.md
3. Quantify outcomes with specific metrics

Output: "For small business owners: Turn transaction data into profit in 1 hour per month. Problem: Too busy to analyze data, can't afford $10K/month consultants. Solution: Automated insights from CSV export. Value: 15-20% profit increase through pricing optimization, 30% reduction in dead stock. Price: $99-199/month (vs $10K consultant). ROI: 250:1 average."

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Example 2: Create Use Case for Pricing Optimization

Request: "Document a use case for pricing optimization"

Process:

1. Select persona: Small Business Owner
2. Reference references/use_cases.md template
3. Document trigger, flow, value
4. Add Chilean context if applicable

Output: UC-03 format with user (Small Business Owner), trigger (competitive pressure), 5-step flow, value (15-20% profit increase), and Chilean variant noting currency volatility impact (300:1 ROI).

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Example 3: Competitive Positioning vs Tableau

Request: "How do we position against Tableau?"

Process:

1. Reference references/competitive_positioning.md
2. Identify competitor category: Expensive Enterprise BI
3. Highlight differentiation: Different market segment

Output: "Don't compete head-to-head. Tableau targets enterprise data teams ($70-500/user/month, complex setup). GabeDA targets SMB business owners ($99-199/month, turnkey). Differentiation: 10x cheaper, no data warehouse needed, industry-specific models. Positioning: 'Tableau is for enterprises with data teams. GabeDA is for SMBs who need insights, not features.'"

Version History

v2.0.0 (2025-10-30)

• Refactored to use progressive disclosure pattern
• Extracted detailed content to references/ (15 files, 2,274 lines)
• Converted to imperative form (removed second-person voice)
• Reduced from 757 lines to ~295 lines
• Added clear workflow sections and examples
• Created navigation guide (README.md) with ~60 cross-references

v1.1.0 (2025-10-29)

• Added working directory guidance and accumulator file references

v1.1.0 (2025-10-23)

• Added comprehensive LATAM market strategy with Chile as beachhead
• Added Chilean context to user profiles and use cases
• Integrated currency volatility, SII compliance, payment terms, seasonality challenges

v1.0.0 (2025-10-23)

• Initial version with 8 user personas, 10 use cases, value propositions, roadmap

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Last Updated: 2025-10-30 Target Markets: Global + LATAM (Chile beachhead, expanding to Argentina/Colombia/Peru/Mexico) Core Positioning: "Business intelligence automation for SMBs - simpler than enterprise BI, more powerful than Excel"