Does the idea of running your own business sound exciting? Do you have a business up and running and want to take it to the next level? I’ve found that the answers to these 5 questions can make or break any endeavor. Of course there are lots of other areas that must be addressed, however these will get you moving in the right direction quickly.

Once you have these answers, you’ve created a basic and relatively painless Down and Dirty Business Plan?.

1. What problem do you solve?

You MUST begin here. If you don’t know what problem you solve, you don’t have a snowball’s chance. What real need do your potential customers/clients have that isn’t be fully addressed yet? Where’s their pain?

2. For whom do you solve it? or What is your niche?

In today’s economy, the best (many say the only) way to market your goods or services is to be very specific about targeting your potential customers. You can locate them, they can find you, and others can refer to you. This is scary for most entrepreneurs because it means saying “No” to some people. Let it go. It works!

3. Who’s your competition?

It’s time to become a stealth researcher. Who else is doing anything like what you’re doing? What’s their niche? How do they market? What do they charge? How long have they been in business? How are they unique?

4. How will you market your business?

Study your competition. What’s working for them? Model their success. Improve it. Think outside the box. Where does your niche hang out? Will you network, place ads in local papers, or do some PR? How about using Google pay per clicks?

5. Why you?

Why will your potential customers go to you instead of the competition? What makes you uniquely qualified to solve their problem(s)? Is there a specific solution you have that they don’t? Can you be more cost effective and/or efficient? Is your service unparalleled? If you don’t know why they’d choose you, your market won’t know why either!