| 20 Questions To Ask Before Starting A Business |
| Entrepreneurs |
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Starting a business is the "American Dream". Review these questions to gain insight into whether or not starting your own business is the right thing for you to do. 1. What type of business do you (want to) have? 2. What is the purpose of this business? 3. Describe your key message or phrase for this business in one sentence: 4. What is your reason for starting your own business? 5. What is your product or service? 6. Can you list three unique benefits of your product? 7. Do you have data, brochures, diagrams, sketches, photographs, related press releases or other documentation about your product/service? 8. What is the product application? How can you use it? 9. What led you to develop your product? 10. Is this product or service used in connection with other products? 11. List the top three objections to buying your product/service immediately? 12. When will your product or services be available? 13. Who is your target audience? 14. Who is your competition? 15. How is your product different from your competition? 16. What is the pricing of your product versus your competition? 17. Are you making any special offers? 18. What plans do you have for advertising & promotions? 19. How will you finance growth in your company? 20. Do you have a management team in place to achieve your goals?
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Comments (9)
  written by JB, December 14, 2009
How about question Numero Uno: Are you up for the challenge?!
 written by Lisa Verde, March 02, 2010
As a small business owner, entrepreneur, and business consultant, I would also recommend asking the following questions:
1. Within my target audience, what are their biggest problems? Does my solution address their needs? 2. What's my ROI - meaning, how long can I operate without running out of funds? 3. What are the skills I need to succeed in this role? For example, if the job requires prospecting or cold-calling, is that something you would be willing to do? Want more information? Connect with me at http://lisaverde.com/
 written by Mark1, March 15, 2010
Lisa, your #2 is a gigantic one. I suspect far too many people jump in with zero funds expecting to make a profit day 1 and dig themselves into a hole. I am interested in a starting something but at this point my best guess is it will take 3 years to break even and I just can't afford it.
 written by Robert Shindell, March 16, 2010
@Mark... You bring up a very good point. Lisa's #2 is vitally important for those who want to start a business to consider. All to often, people will be in a position where they need to start something (job-loss) and then get themselves into an even deeper hole by going down this path without really knowing how long they can sustain it. It might be worth one's time, and a little bit of money (if the financial projections are not ones strong suit) to hire someone to do the forecasting for them. Spending a little now might save you a ton of money (and headaches) later.
 written by Paul D, June 08, 2010
All these questions are totally moot until you've answered the first one: Do I have any money to do something this risky? People often don't ask this question and get half way in, half ass the business, and then end up with large credit card bills and a 5-10 period of stress/depression to show for their effort. Remember, most businesses fail in the first 2 years, and no one talks about the "non-success stories" in the press.
I'm not trying to dissuade someone from starting a business but you should be realistic: 1) As David Needleman who started JetBlue had said, and having started my own company I can attest to; make a detailed calculation of the amount of cash you need to get the business off the ground... Now double it. People are often overly optimistic about when revenues will come, and how much they think things will cost. You can't go back to the beginning once you're started, so be sure you start strong. 2) Don't borrow from friends or family with any promise of paying them back. Again, businesses fail, if it does, don't let it bring down your relationships with it. 3) It's tempting to start a business during a downturn, but understand that most markets aren't usually welcoming of newcomers. Unless you have a revolutionary idea, trying to take marketshare when the market overall is shrinking is near impossible. If you time it right for "the recovery" then your business can take off too, but it's a gamble for knowing when "the bottoms" is. 4) Never give up control of your dream to others for financial reasons. Don't bring in partners or investors because you are desperate for cashflow. It's better to sink the dream than to force yourself into a box with someone else, struggles for control and vision can easily cripple a business. Be sure you bring on partners out of want of their expertise, not because you have to financially. Good Luck!
 written by San Dan Yi, July 02, 2010
Great Site!
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 written by Rose Lewis, July 17, 2010
All great points! In an economic downturn, many turn to entrepreneurship. One of the biggest mistakes most make is reinventing the wheel. Research businesses systems that are already established in your line of expertise/passion - ones that serve the most pressing needs. A couple of great books to get some pointers from are Rich Dad Poor Dad - Start Late Finish Rich and The ABC's of Making Money.
 written by Joe Wade, July 20, 2010
One of the keys to success is having great support. Operating your own business is stressful and frustrating, and not just for you but for your family. It is very important that you have strong supporters. If you are married you want to make sure your spouse is 110% supportive of your business idea and of you. Because running a business does not have many of the illusions of security you have with a 'normal job' you and your family must be ready to accept all of the issues and struggles that will come.
 written by Robert Glenister, July 21, 2010
Expanding on what Joe and others have mentioned - One way to get the knowledge, expertise, support and marketing assistance that will give you a fighting chance of success is to look at franchise opportunities in the business area you are interested in. Yes you pay more at the start but you get a fast-start system to ramp up the business from Day1 and expertise on-tap to help you through any problems.
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