Methods and tools for assessing the effectiveness and sensitivity of a startup project in the MS Excel environment in the context of developing a business strategy

The purpose of the study is to develop methods and tools for assessing the effectiveness and sensitivity of a startup project in the MS Excel environment. The scientific significance lies in the development of a software application that allows, in an interactive mode, not only to assess the effectiveness of a startup project, but also to determine the critical values of factors for the prompt adjustment of a business strategy. The practical value lies in the possibility of using methods and algorithms by businesses of the Republic of Belarus, business support centers, business associations, venture capital companies, the administration of free economic zones, banks and financial organizations that provide loans to startups to make investment decisions. Main results. An analysis of the development of the start - up movement in the Republic of Belarus indicates a low level of ICT use in business decision - making. In order to digitalize business solutions for startups, the systematization of mathematical methods and tools used in assessing business performance was carried out. It was revealed that dynamic models are most suitable for assessing the effectiveness of startups and assessing the sensitivity of the project. As a result of the analysis of software systems for calculating the performance indicators of business projects, software applications developed on the basis of MS Excel were selected, which have a number of advantages: easy to use, economical and comfortable to work with, no training required. A methodology for assessing the effectiveness of a startup in the MS Ecxel environment has been developed, which includes the following stages: selection of indicators for assessing the effectiveness of a startup; definition of initial data; calculation of baseline values of startup performance indicators based on the developed software application; analysis of the sensitivity of criteria for the effectiveness of a startup project. The application was tested on the example of a startup project for organizing a virtual eco - farm “i-FerMir”. As a result of calculations, it was determined that the project is effective. Critical changes in factors are identified and recommendations for adjusting the business strategy are given.