The 20 Question Business Plan

The "20 Question Business Plan" is a simple way to craft a business plan as well as to rekindle your relationship with your business. This Week with Sara Fitts is using the "20 Question Business Plan" because last week 2 of my clients (who own small businesses) were both needing to re-engage in their businesses. For whatever reason these clients had let the day-to-day thrills of running a business fall by the wayside and get replaced with fear and frustration. You, too, can use these 20 questions to get yourself back on track if you are self-employed, own your own business, or are thinking of building your own business.

The 20 Question Business Plan

1. Describe your business in 25 words or less.
2. What is the purpose for building your business?
3. What trend is your business going to invent or remove?
4. Why will you be successful? Why have you been successful in the past?
5. What's the mission of your business in 10 words or less?
6. What's the pain or frustration that your business will help your customers reduce?
7. How do you know you'll meet your customers needs?
8. Where will your next 5 customers come from and how much will they pay?
9. Why should your customers use you instead of some other business that does almost the same thing?
10. How do you intend to get 1000 potential buyers interested in your product or service?
11. Who's going to handle customer service and what are your 5 performance benchmarks in this area?
12. How much will it take to fund your business this year?
13. What are the weaknesses or shortcomings that you plan to outsource or compnesate for?
14. What will tell you that your business is going well - and what will tell you that your business in not going well?
15. What is the biggest limitation to your business?
16. How vibrant is the industry in which you offer your product or service?
17. How will you handle the money and accounting?
18. How quickly will your business be profitable and by how much?
19. What is your profit margin (revenue less actual cost of the product/service)?
20. Who do you need to bring in to ensure your success?

Bonus Question: How much do you plan to sell your business for and in how many years?

These 20 questions provide a simple exercise that I believe all self-employed professionals, small business owners, and anyone who is thinking of building a business needs to answer candidly. And sometimes we all need to dust off the business plan we wrote when we first started our businesses - and renew our interest and lift our spirits. Sometimes we just need to get back to the roots of our desire to own and run a business.

If you have questions or comments, I'd love to hear from you. I hope that today's post will help you re-kindle the fire and love for your business.