Questions to Consider
As a group forms and begins to meet, an initial question to address is “What do we (members of the group) need to do or check out about our business idea?”
Two articles that follow – “Factors in New Business Success” and “Deals from a Banker’s Perspective” – provide checklists that are designed to give the group an idea of all the issues to be addressed in exploring a new business idea.
The assessment lists can be broken into segments and assigned to the functional teams or committees formed within the group. The purpose of the lists at this early stage of the process is not to answer all the points included on the lists. Instead, the idea is to show areas that must be addressed, to help you determine what the group does and does not know at this stage of the process and to help develop a plan to gather information and further develop the business idea. Another purpose of the lists is to help the group members understand the amount of work involved in bringing the idea to reality.
These lists are only a starting point and may include issues not relevant to your idea. However, they do serve to show you what information is required for your implementation plan and for your business plan.