How to Become a Power BI Consultant? The Ultimate Guide

Data is the digital fuel that drives today’s digital revolution. However, many organisations still do not know how to fully utilise data to its potential. Power BI Consultants can help you unlock the full potential of data by converting boring and cumbersome data into visually appealing charts and dashboards. With accurate and insightful data reports, you can make better business decisions. 

According to Statista, the overall market size for business intelligence software is expected to grow by more than 14.4 billion GBP in 2025. Similarly, the demand for Power BI Consultants is also increasing, with many organisations actively seeking to hire them. Learn about the skills and tools you need to become a successful Power BI Consultant, and get practical tips on how to build your business and find clients.  

Table of Contents     

1) An introduction to Power BI Consultant  

2) How to Become a Power BI Consultant?  

3) How to build your Power BI Consultant business?

4) Skills and Tools required to Become a Power BI Consultant  

5) Conclusion        

An introduction to Power BI Consultant

Power BI is a tool used to transform disorganised data into organised and visually appealing data insights. The best part is that you can use any data source, from a simple spreadsheet to a hybrid cloud database.   

Whether it’s on the cloud or on-premises, Power BI easily integrates with the data source and offers advanced sharing capabilities. Its immersive visualisations help you analyse complex data and identify what's relevant. As a result, the implementation of Power BI is growing at a staggering pace. 

Who are Power BI Consultants and what do they do?  

A Power BI Consultant can help you install Power BI services in your organisation. Apart from this, they can upgrade your current Power BI tool to ensure it is up-to-date. This enables businesses to transform their complex raw data into visually appealing data insights and dashboards, enabling calculated business decisions based on accurate information.  

The primary goal of BI Consultants is to improve operating efficiency, optimise performance, and enable well-informed decisions to meet business targets. To achieve this, they implement superior data strategies and techniques to enhance data analytics systems. 

Power BI Consultants are experts in analysing data analytics systems and can create optimised strategies to improve their accuracy. This enables businesses to make informed decisions driven by data.  

Roles and responsibilities  

Many organisations struggle to deal with the onslaught of data, making it difficult for them to sort and organise it. A Power BI Consultant can help sort out and organise this data into easily readable insights. Some of the responsibilities of a Power BI Consultant are listed below:  

a) Analysing the capabilities of current data analytics system and detecting any anomalies  

b) Looking for ways to fix anomalies and optimise the data analytics systems  

c) Examining, applying, and documenting existing Power BI systems  

d) Using various efficient data analysis techniques, such as Big Data, to detect trends and create data models  

e) Implementing AI and other techniques to create predictive data models  

f) Extracting accurate data using secure methods 

g) Creating easy data-sharing methods within the organisation for the stakeholders  

h) Creating various data visualisation methods to showcase insightful data  

i) Converting the requirements of the business into technical requirements  

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How to become a Power BI Consultant?  

So, you have decided to become a Power BI Consultant but don’t know the steps. Not to worry, in this section, you will learn how to become a Power BI Consultant and what the requirements are.  

What are the Requirements?

1) Bachelor’s degree in relevant technical fields like Information Technology, Computer Science, and Data Science  

2) A solid understanding of key concepts such as data mining and machine learning  

3) Proficiency in Power BI and other data mining techniques  

4) Previous industry experience and analytical skills, including statistics and report generation  

5) Ability to use tools such as Qlik Sense, Tableau, Board, and Looker, including Power BI tools  

6) Familiar with frameworks like Apache Spark, Hadoop, Flink and Kudu  

Additionally, obtaining a valid certification from an accredited institute or relevant work experience in roles such as Power BI Developer or data analyst can also qualify you as a Power BI Consultant. 

Mastering skills such as data modelling, statistical analysis, and other relevant skills can greatly enhance your chances of becoming a successful Power BI Consultant. 

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How to build your Power BI Consultant business?

Building your business is like building a sandcastle - everything needs to be perfect. If the tide is too strong, your castle may collapse. However, with the right approach, you can create a stronghold that can withstand even the strongest of tides.  

Define your business niche

The first step is to determine and define your business niche. Many people struggle with properly defining their niche and fail as a result. You need to specify how your Power BI skills can help others and what problems you solve. Once you figure out your business nature, you’re halfway there to success.

Promote your business

After figuring out your business niche, you need to find ways to broadcast your story and let others know about your services. You can use various marketing techniques or seek advice from a marketing expert to effectively promote your business.

Finding Clients

Finding potential clients for your business may initially seem easy, but it can be one of the hardest steps. While you may come across people interested in your services, not all of them are necessarily clients - they are potential clients. Ultimately, a person becomes a client only when you get paid. Therefore, learn to identify and focus on potential clients.

Leverage

When you are just starting your business, you may not have much to leverage. However, once you acquired your first paid client, you can use them as leverage for expanding your client base. The power of word-of-mouth remains strong even in the digital age, so use it to your advantage and attract more clients.  

Skills and Tools required to Become a Power BI Consultant?  

The ability of a Power BI Consultant is defined by their skillset. A skilled BI Consultant is like an artist working on a canvas, knowing how to paint a picture using the data provided. 

What are the skills required to become a Power BI Consultant?

Data warehousing: A data warehouse is a system for managing data that supports Business Intelligence-related activities. Power BI Consultants should be knowledgeable in managing data warehouse systems and improving them. It is also necessary for them to understand different methods, techniques, and various database models.  

Dashboards: A dashboard is a single-page document that contains various charts and graphs to highlight a story. It is also referred to as a canvas, and a well-designed canvas can effectively communicate complex data. 

Data analytics: Analysing data is an essential skill for a Power BI Consultant. This skill is critical for breaking down complex data into easy-to-understand dashboards, visual graphs, and charts.  

Data modelling: Data modelling is a valuable technique for identifying trends and patterns. An expert BI Consultant can simplify the decision-making process by converting data into actionable insights. However, data modelling may require knowledge of additional subjects such as statistics and machine learning algorithms.  

What are the tools required to become a Power BI Consultant?  

A Power BI Consultant should know how to effectively use various BI tools. From building interactive dashboards to immersive reports, they should be able to create them. In addition, they should be proficient in data analytics and other relevant concepts. Some of the tools necessary for Power BI Consultants are listed below:  

1) SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS)  

2) SQL Server Stack   

3) SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS)  

4) SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS)


 

Conclusion  

We hope you enjoyed reading this article and gained an understanding of How to Become a Power BI Consultant. In addition, you would have learned about the skills and tools necessary for becoming a Successful Power BI Consultant. Moreover, you would have also acquired some practical tips on how to build your business and attract clients.  

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