Business Model Quiz

 

How does your gross margin benchmark vs. the industry or SIC? Much Lower Below Average Average Above Average Significantly Higher Do you fill an unserved or underserved market? We are a ME TOO at best We are kindof a ME TOO We have some unique features/benefits to a portion of the market but it is not exceptionally strong value proposition We have a strong position in our niche We have little or no competition for the niche we have chosen Can a definable and repeatable sales process be created? I have no clue how we sell stuff We engage in quite a bit of marketing and sales activity and somehow the product/service sells We have an acceptable sales and marketing proceedure We have identified a series of steps to walk a prospect from non-buyer to satisfied customer We have a series of steps to walk a prospect form non-prospect to satisfied customer including some proprietary marketing/sales secrets There is an old business addage: Find a parade and get in front of it. Are you in front of a parade? The parade passed us years ago We seem to be always trying to catch the parade We are in middle of the parade We are solidly out in front of the parade We identified the potential parade before our competitors. We remain well in front. How valuable is your intellectual property? I don’t really have any intellectual property I have a bit of intellectual property I have intellectual property I regularly use in the business that increases our profitability Our intellectual property is used often and quite valuable Our business is completely based on our intellectual property and it is of significant value Have you been able to easily borrow funds? No one will lend us money Borrowing sources are limited to friends and family We can usually raise the capital we need It has been easy to raise funds or borrow Banks chase us Do you have the ability to attract and retain top talent? Great employees never seem to want to work here We occasionally get a star employee but they never stick around We have our share of superstars, but I wish we had more We can attract the best and brightest and we do a good job of retaining them We are the Google of our industry Rate your customer retention We struggle to retain customers We are a bit weak in customer retention We do an average job of retaining customers I am very pleased with the job we do retaining our customers We have top-of-class customer retention Rate your ability to consistently read the crystal ball or predict the future I don’t make predictions as to what my industry landscape will be in a few years I have some guesses where the industry is going but I always seem to be wrong more often than right My predictions are 50/50 I have made some wrong predictions but I have been right more than I am wrong I would hate to think where my business would be if I did not look into my crystal ball regularly Do you have a low relative cost of attraction vs. lifetime margin of a customer? We have to pay WAY too much to get a customer vs. what they spend We need a more cost effective way to attract clients We could to better, but we do alright in this department We can attract a customer for under 15% of the lifetime margin they generate OR or cost of acquiring a customer vs. their lifetime value is well below the industry average We can attract a customer for under 5% of the lifetime margin they generate My business will sell for over $5,000,000? Yeah, right! Slim chance my business will sell for that much If I execute well and make some good moves, I could sell for that much I realistically anticipate selling my business for $5 million or more If I listed my business for sale today, I could sell it for over $5 million in a short timeframe Is there a likelihood of detrimental governmental action/inaction? I would be in deep trouble if the government goes the wrong way I have significant risk of detrimental government action/inaction I have small to moderate risk of detrimental government action/inaction I have very small risk of detrimental government action/inaction I have no risk of detrimental government action/inaction Is it a hot market cooling off? We are practically selling pet rocks here I am concerned that our market is too fadish Our market can be fadish, but I am not overly-concerned Our market is typically not fadish or prone to overheating This is not a concern for our business Do you have a location handicap? Our location is constantly an issue on a variety of fronts Our location handicaps us occasionally Our location is not ideal, but not an issue Our location suits us well and is an asset Our location is valuable and is a competitive advantage

Do you have good competition or bad competition? Our competitors will cut prices no matter what or have tons of money to outcompete us We have tough, not always sane competition Average Solid but fair competition Little or no competition  Can a salesperson of ORDINARY skill sell it reasonably well? We need someone that can sell ice to Eskimos Our product/service takes a real pro to sell it We need high quality sales people, but the product/service sells well if the salesperson is skilled We can take almost any reasonably qualified salesperson and they can sell well We sell plenty without much sales effort. Almost anyone can sell this. Are there definable and identifiable prospects? I wish I know where some of them are hiding We know approximately where our buyers come from We have a clear model of our ideal prospects and where to find them We have a clear model of our ideal prospects and where to find them AND we know a couple of places to find prospects that our competitors don’t  How valuable is your Rolodex? I don’t know anyone who can assist my business I have a couple useful contacts I have a handful of contact that have helped the business over the years I have made many sales or met many valuable contacts from my Rolodex My Rolodex is more valuable than gold  Do you have a low break-even relative to the competition? No Our break even is higher than all of our competition Our break even is higher than many of our competitors Our break even in the middle of the pack Our break even is lower than many of our competitors  Can margin fund growth or is debt required? It seems like no matter how much money we have or borrow, it is never enough We always seem to be cash poor Money is tight on occasion, but we only tap our line occasionally We rarely need to tap our line of credit We are debt-free and don’t' need to borrow money  Is your brand meaningful in the eyes of the customer? Our customers and prospects could care less about our brand Our customers care about our brand a bit but our prospects don’t care We have some brand awareness in the eyes of the prospect We have a meaningful brand to both propsects and customers We could sell the legal rights to our brand to a competitor for quite a bit of money  Rate the barrier of entry for competitors Anyone can get into this business You can get into this business with a little know how and modest capital It isnt impossible to get into this business but it takes some know-how and more It stunk to get into this business because of the know-how and capital requirements but now I am thankful for the barrier of entry I dare you to get into this business  Do you have price-conscious customers? My customers would sell their kids to save a nickel I am constantly amazed and frustrated by the cheapness of my customers Yes, my customers are price sensative, but not more than any other businesses My customers are willing to pay a premium for our product/service and understand the value of the additional charge We have the highest priced product/service in the industry and our customers do not complain about price  Our industry or niche will be around a long time? Our industry might not be around in 5 years I have some concerns about the longevity of our industry I am pretty sure our industry will be around in 10 years I am highly confident that our industry in something near its current form will be around in 20 years Our industry isnt going anywhere for a LONG time  I have a known exit strategy? I have no exit strategy I plan to sell the business to a key employee on contract or something simple I think I can sell the business through a broker for a price I can live with…. or better I have a known exit strategy and am successfully working the plan I am on the beach in under 5 years with a pile of cash in hand  What is the likelihood of a well-healed competitor entering our market? I am very confident a large competitor will enter our market and it will hurt me badly I am somewhat confident a large competitor will enter our market and it will hurt me a bit A large competitor could enter our market and it woudl hurt me badly, but I am not sure it will happen I am confident a large competitor will NOT enter our market OR if they do, it will not significantly hurt me I am very confident a large competitor will NOT enter our market and even if they do, it wont matter  Do you like working with the money and the financials? I have never understood financials I don’t like the money side of the business and typically ignore it I don’t like the money side of the business but I pay enough attention to it I have a firm grasp of my critical perfornance indicators and my financials I am a financial pro and run my business accordingly  Is the business prone to litigation/losses? We have constant issues with extraordinary losses or litigation We have too many issues with extraordinary losses or litigation We have a few issues with extraordinary losses or litigation We have virtually no issues with extraordinary losses or litigation This is not a concern for our business