There are questions, and there are game-changing business questions to ask.
Ask the right questions, and you unlock your success, happiness, and fulfillment. In business and life.
What are these ‘business questions’ you need to ask?
I started my business right out of school with no money, experience, or team. The truth is, I had no business being in business.
Passion, grit, and my naivety saw me through challenging times. The early days of my business had me welcome failure, failure, and more failure.
Thirteen years later, I welcomed a 9-figure exit. To outsiders, I was an “overnight” success.
Looking back, specific achievements that moved me closer to my 9-figure exit.
Each achievement came from asking five business questions asked in a certain order.
Each achievement built upon the success of the previous one.
These five business questions are helpful on their own. Combine these business questions as a group, and you now have unlimited potential.
Can these business questions help you if you plan to keep your business until you retire?
An absolute yes.
Can these business questions help you if plan to sell your business?
Once again, an absolute yes.
How?
These five business questions help your business become vibrant, needed, and profitable.
The right answers to these business questions help you dominate and win. All day. Every day.
What are these five business questions?
There’s only one way to find out.
Keep reading.
Question 1: What Painful Problem Are You Passionate To Solve?
You don’t choose your passions; your passions choose you – Jeff Bezos
Entrepreneurship has always been and always will be about finding solutions to problems.
The bigger and more painful the problem, the bigger your success.
But there’s a catch.
The first of the five business questions sets you up for success when you do one simple thing.
Find a painful problem affecting many people that you’re passionate to solve.
Of the five business questions, question one starts your success journey.
And when it comes to business questions, question one has the ‘triple P.’
What the triple P, you ask?
You are finding a PAINFUL PROBLEM that you’re PASSIONATE to solve.
Why is passion important to solve a painful problem?
Two reasons.
First, the more painful the problem, the more people are willing to pay you to take their pain away.
Second, it’s your passion that keeps you in the game during difficult times. If you’re not passionate about solving a problem, there’s a good chance you won’t solve it.
Read and prosper from ‘Why You Need Passion And Belief To Unlock Your Sweet Success.’
While you’re at it, check out ‘Make More Money Now By Solving Massive Problems.’
Of all the business questions around, question two brought me one step closer to my 9-figure exit.
What is the question?
Keep reading.
Question 2: What Keeps Your Customers Up At Nights?
When I’m worried and I can’t sleep I count my blessings instead of sheep – Irving Berlin
Do you know what keeps your customers up at nights?
Your should.
Of the business questions that help you dominate and win, question 2 is a game changer.
A quick story.
Question one launched my EdTech, Embanet, by finding a painful problem I was passionate to solve.
Embanet became the industry’s best at keeping online student in their seats through hosting and support.
While this sounds easy today, in the mid-1990s this was anything but easy.
It was on a regular customer service call that fate stepped in and changed everything. Forever.
As the call was ending, I asked my customer, John, what kept him up at nights.
John said, “Embanet wins the day by keeping online students in their seats. But now filling the seats has become difficult and expensive.”
Boom.
My customer was up at nights with a new and painful problem that I was passionate to solve.
I had no idea that this problem existed. My customer never thought of Embanet as the company to solve his problem.
I told John I would come back with an answer in two weeks. It ended up taking two years.
What kept me in the game during the many failures? The ‘triple P.’ My Passion to solve a Painful Problem.
The solution was creating ‘Embanet 2’ which made ‘Embanet 1’ look like a rounding error.
While success is over-the-top, if you’re not careful, success can destroy you.
Unless you know business questions to ask, and in particular, question 3.
Keep reading to find out.
Question 3: Do You Know The 20% Of Your Actions That Generate 80% Of Your Results?
Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler – Albert Einstein
When it comes to business questions, question 3 rocks you to the core.
Do you know 20% of your actions generate 80% of your results?
Chances are 80% of your profits come from 20% of your customers.
There’s a good chance that 20% of your customers create 80% of your problems.
Not possible, you say.
Vilfredo Pareto, a 19th-century Italian economist, would tell you otherwise.
Pareto discovered ‘Pareto’s Law’ or what many people call the 80/20 rule.
Why is this important?
The irony of success is that once you’re successful, it’s your success that can cause your failure.
With success comes more responsibilities, time, and a distraction of focus.
If you’re not careful, you’ll lose focus and go out of business.
What can you do?
Simplify for success so you can dominate and win.
Knowing how to say ‘no’ is a game changer for you and everyone around you.
[tweet_box design=”default” url=”https://jef.tips/j13bqs16″ float=”none”]Want a successful and happy life? Master the art of knowing both what to do and not do[/tweet_box]
Whether you keep your business or sell it, Pareto’s law is a game changer.
Business questions are your ally and friend to help you unlock your sweet success.
Knowing what 20% of your actions generate 80% of your results is a business question you should ask often.
Ever wonder why some titans of business are no more?
These titans never asked business questions, particularly this next one.
Keep reading to find out what this game changer of a business question is.
Question 4: Do you know your business blind spots?
It is a blind goose that cometh to the fox’s sermon – John Lyly
When it comes to business questions not to ask, not knowing your business blind spots is a fast track to failure.
But there’s a catch.
In life and business, timing is everything.
The five business questions on their own are helpful. Asking these business questions in a certain order has you reap the rewards.
Question one starts your business by finding problems you’re passionate to solve.
Knowing what keeps your customers up at nights, question two keeps you relevant.
When you already have a thriving business, question three keeps you in business. Mastering the 80/20 rule keeps you focused.
Business questions overlooked has question four at the top of the list.
And for a good reason.
You don’t see your blind spots.
But ignorance will neither save you nor your business.
Your mission, if you choose to accept it, is to find your business blind spots.
How do you do this?
Start by reading, ‘Perfect Advice You Need On How To Master Business Blind Spots.’
Be selective and find the top two or three blind spots.
Within those blind spots is a market disruption waiting to happen.
Want your company to prosper and thrive?
Lead the charge and create the next market disruption by eliminating your blind spot.
When it comes to business questions, asking the next one catapulted my success to the next level.
And you can do when you know what business questions to ask.
Keep reading to find out this last and over-the-top question that helps you dominate and win.
Question 5: Do You Know How To Put Yourself Out Of Business? If you Don’t, Your Competition Will
The worst thing you can do is nothing – Terry Pratchett
Knowing which business questions to ask, and the order to ask them in leads the way.
Taking action cements your longevity and success.
With this in mind, be honest with me when I ask you this next and final business question.
Do you know how to put yourself out of business?
As crazy as this may sound if you don’t do it your competition will.
There’s also a method to the madness of the order of these five business questions.
Putting yourself out of business is the last business question and the most powerful.
Remember business question four, business blind spots?
Solving one of your business blind spots can help put your existing business out of business.
Why do this?
So you can take your existing business to the next level.
It was a business blind spot for Embanet that helped launched “Embanet 2.”
Embanet 1 helped schools keep the seats filled for online programs. Embanet 2 helped schools filled.
Asking question two made me aware of the problems schools were having filling the seats. Question four confirmed filling the seats was a huge blind spot for Embanet and the industry.
Question five launched Embanet 2 with the plan to put Embanet 1 out of business. A market disruption happened from new services and a business model that didn’t suck.
The schools, students, and Embanet won.
Embanet thrived.
A 9-figure exit happened from five business questions that changed everything.
Conclusion
Five business questions.
A nine-figure exit.
Am I saying that asking five business questions guarantees a 9-figure exit?
Not a chance.
But asking five specific business questions in a certain order can get you results. Big results.
Do you want to unlock your business success and destiny? Start asking the right business questions.
Set yourself apart from the crowd right now and take immediate action.
Get the list of business questions in front of you and answer question one. Start the process today, and you’ll thank me tomorrow.
The great news is that everything you need you already have within you.
You can do it. I know you can.
Here’s to you and your success!
Your Biggest Raving Fan,
Jeffrey Feldberg