2
Asking the right business
questions: a toolkit for business
development
One of the main reasons that businesses fail to achieve their full potential
and nd the right answers to their business development challenges is
because their decision-makers and managers simply don’t ask themselves
the right business questions.
I have regularly been in business development consulting situations where
the questions I have asked have actually prompted management and
owners to come up with business solutions for themselves. I have often
seen senior people in businesses stare at each other in silence following a
particular question and then in embarrassment admit, ‘You don’t need to
say anything else . . . we can see what we’ve missed and what we need to
do.’ Amazingly enough the ‘killer’ question that has prompted this reaction
is usually something quite basic.
This chapter then is basically a list of simple, but signicant, business
development related questions that you can ask yourself about your
venture. The intention behind them is to provoke a strong emotional
reaction.
The questions are essentially a business development ‘toolkit’ for owners,
management and directors of existing and ‘start-up’ enterprises. They will
help you redirect your thoughts and focus. I am condent that you will
nd this chapter one of the most helpful and potentially powerful in the
book, as the questions will trigger and inspire new ideas, act as a catalyst
for action, highlight mistakes and any commercial deciencies being made
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