29 Questions to Help You Critique Your Business and Boost Profits

I’m often asked, “what could I do that will help me grow faster?” And I’d love to have just one answer, but of course I Don’t.  The “what” is different for each advisor, because your vision, goals, niche and how you run your business will be different than the next business owner.

What I can tell you is that when you’re not winning like you’d like to be winning, there are tried and true consistent questions to answer, systems to create and tools to help you grow and scale your business.

One thing I see is that no matter how much time you’ve been in business you need to be able to be the boss and move out of role of employee.  Visualize this.  A company without a leader.  Or a company without employees or contractors working for you is a prescription for burnout.   Yet, many people, yes, maybe even you, are running their businesses like that!

When you love the work you’re doing — like being a financial advisor, accountant or mortage broker, it is imperative that you take one day a week to work “on” the business.  Even if you’re an independent professional or agent working for a BIG company, you need to take time out to monitor how your business is doing, consider changes where necessary, and of course, to celebrate the wins.

What do leaders do?   In most advisory firms, they work with key clients.  They also set, manage, and energize their team with the firm’s vision and implement (with the help of their support team) key initiatives to achieve predictable results across the firm.

Now comes the part I know you won’t want to hear — leaders have a written plan in place that they use daily as a guide and to monitor their performance.   What I find, as I talk with experienced business owners, is that the day came when they realized that the only thing that they hadn’t yet done, that they “knew” they needed to do, was create a plan. They came to this realization when they became sick and tired of putting out fires all the time. OR they became sick and tired of knowing that they could be earning more or working less, but try as they did, something was always in the way of their continued growth.

When I started my business, the only planning program available was a 50-sheet planning process that mostly was for individuals to gain funding.  While I taught part of that planning process at a local Small Business Center, and had done much of the work indicated, it didn’t help me as much as I wanted or needed.

It wasn’t until I moved 3000 miles from home, that I found a planning process perfect for myself and other business leaders.  I was able to move from vague and inconsistent to a simple reporting system that helped me track racks the execution of projects and my goals.  Over time, the system has benefited hundreds of thousands of global business owners, their teams, and executives of larger firms who provide services and/or products.

It uses an online, cloud-based platform that includes highly visual tools and templates.  And when your team – in the office or virtually – know your plan and create a plan for their part of your firm, they (and you) can track critical goals, project, and make changes more quickly in a simple dashboard system.  With such focus and a monitoring system, you’ll be a leader of a team that can easily improve business results.

Once completed, the system helps measure and track what’s important to the growth of your firm and ensures that every team member understand exactly what they are responsible for and when.  Best yet, your plan will be on one page that you’ll use, and not 50 pages that just creates dust on a shelf.

BASIC BUSINESS QUESTIONS TO ANSWER WITH CLARITY ABOUT YOUR BUSINESS

If you are unable answer all of the 28 of the basic business questions I’ve lived below – and answer them confidently – it’s time to put the metal to the petal and create your business and marketing plan.  Ask me for a free Q and A session about the plan today.  You have nothing to lose and everything to gain!

1. Is the legal structure of your business protecting you personally? (like an LLC, S or C Corp)
2. What services and/or products do you offer?
3. What is your experience with this market?
4. What are the risks involved with this business?
5. What are the risks you have in regards to growing your business?
6. What are your business strengths?
7. *What business are you building? (VISION)
8. What problems does your company solve?
9. Who is struggling with the problem your company solves?
10. Who is your ideal client?
11. How large is the market share for that “ideal client”?
12. Where do you find more or your clients?
13. What is the best way for them to learn about the services or products your company offers?
14. Who is your competition?
15. How do the problems your company solves differ from existing or competing businesses?
16. How does your company differ from your competition?
17. *How will your product/service help your prospects have better lives/businesses? (MISSION)
18. How are you going to make money?
19. How are you pricing your services/products?
20. What amount of money do you think you need to have an enjoyable life?
21. What are the core values of your company?
22. *What 10 BIG ways are you planning to market or build your company? (STRATEGIES)
23. *How will you monitor the results of your marketing efforts? (OBJECTIVES)
24. How are you pricing your services or products?
25. What does your marketing funnel look like?
26. Who is on your management team and what is their experience?
27. Who is on your board of advisors and what is their experience?
28. *What are the BIG steps that you must take to achieve your dreams? (ACTION STEPS)
29. Do you have a website that is capturing your niched prospects?

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* These 5 concepts are from The One Page Business Plan® program

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