Can Your Business Answer 20 Questions?
July 8th, 2009 | 
Author: 
If you ran a bank and your bank needed a TARP bailout, that’s how many questions you’d have to answer to get a bailout. Twenty. Eleven of those questions could present a real challenge to a Harvard valedictorian. The questions ask for difficult answers like Institution Name, Address, Type of Company and Date of Signature. Whew! I have a migraine just thinking about it! (You can view the entire application and directions here)
Now, what if you ran your online business that way? Imagine granting credit to applicants with such a poorly constructed application. Are those the clients/customers you really want? Suppose you needed money. How much money would your business borrow if you got an application like that?
It’s very difficult for the substantial majority of small businesses to get loans in today’s ultra-tight credit market. That’s why it’s imperitive that you concentrate on profit from day one. It’s vital to discern the difference between a website used for information for an offline business and a website which needs to generate traffic and profit.
A local CPA and Business Management Group uses its website for information purposes only. It generates little traffic (Alexa ranking over 10,000,000) yet the business itself nets over $1.6 million per year. The website itself gives no clue as to how successful the business is.
On the other hand, there are websites which generate excellent traffic (Alexa rankings under 100,000) yet are only modestly profitable. The point is, a website is not a gauge of how successful a company really is. Which brings us back to the 20 questions. When evaluating your business for success, are you trying to fool yourself by asking 20 questions as simple as those on a TARP application?
Every online business needs to constantly challenge and update itself. Ask 20 painful questions instead of 20 questions a parrot could answer. Your business will be far more successful.
