How Healthy Is Your New Business?

20 Questions | By Janicefraser | Last updated: Mar 15, 2022 | Total Attempts: 60

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How Healthy Is Your New Business? - Quiz

Identify preventable problems and learn techniques to address them right away.

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Focus

You’re in a race against the clock: you’ve got to find customers and make something they value before your money, time, energy and willpower run out. Give your business the best possible chance by focusing (nearly) all of your energy on the single biggest risk to your business right now. Shelve or scrap other projects and tasks until they fill that critical slot. Yes, there will always be urgent tasks (we call these fire drills). Build in a small cushion of time and resources to keep them at bay. But don’t let the urgent distract you from the truly important. --> Take five minutes to figure out your single most important priority.

Scope

Once you’ve decided what problem to tackle, it’s tempting to try to solve it all at once. Don’t. Instead, divide the problem up and take small bites. You will not need to make as many assumptions and you will gain the exhilarating feeling of movement, progress, momentum. Momentum is the fuel that makes businesses go: employees, investors and customers run on it. You get it by tackling a right-size (usually small) problem and delivering a workable (not perfect) solution. --> Take five minutes to figure out how to scope your current top priority.

Team

Your team can either be your greatest asset or a source of frustration and unconstructive conflict. We can’t change who is on your team, but we can provide you with ways to consistently draw the best out of your teammates when you’re trying to generate ideas, make a decision or get work out the door. --> Find out how to engage your team more consistently and deeply -- but spend less time talking.

Evidence

Your business, like any business, feels like a roller coaster ride. You need to feel and communicate confidence to lead your team, design a winning product and convince people to buy into what you’re offering. All the while, you’ve got a thousand unanswered questions plaguing you. You can’t fake this confidence (at least, not for long!) It needs to rest on solid evidence. How do you find the evidence? Line your priorities up with your most pressing questions; once you’ve decided what evidence you need to confirm your course, you’ll be looking to gather (just) the evidence you need to answer your most important questions. Build a simple system to capture these answers and use them right away. --> Find out how to systematically gather critical evidence and act on it quickly.

Resources

Businesses run on momentum, and momentum comes from solving a real problem that someone will pay you to solve. This means you need exactly enough money, time, expertise and energy to deliver your solution. If you can move the solution closer, you won’t have as far to go before your resources run out. If you can find clever ways to leverage the resources you have, you’ll go further still. By thinking about your resources as ingredients, you will keep the end product firmly in your sights -- and you may discover other less costly ways to reach your goal. --> Take five minutes to identify the resources you actually need.

Questions and Answers

1.

We have improved key metrics by making changes to our product.
- A.
  
  Strongly disagree
- B.
  
  Disagree
- C.
  
  Neutral
- D.
  
  Agree
- E.
  
  Strongly agree
2.

We work in short, clearly defined cycles (iterations, sprints, etc).
- A.
  
  Strongly disagree
- B.
  
  Disagree
- C.
  
  Neutral
- D.
  
  Agree
- E.
  
  Strongly agree
3.

There's a lot to do, but we regularly evaluate and commit to our priorities, so I know why I'm doing what I'm doing.
- A.
  
  Strongly disagree
- B.
  
  Disagree
- C.
  
  Neutral
- D.
  
  Agree
- E.
  
  Strongly agree
4.

We make most decisions with relatively little friction. We argue primarily when there is an important decision and we have substantive differences.
- A.
  
  Strongly disagree
- B.
  
  Disagree
- C.
  
  Neutral
- D.
  
  Agree
- E.
  
  Strongly agree
5.

We focus on a few key metrics, and these regularly guide our priorities.
- A.
  
  Strongly disagree
- B.
  
  Disagree
- C.
  
  Neutral
- D.
  
  Agree
- E.
  
  Strongly agree
6.

We launch work on a frequent basis (make it accessible to some or all of our customers for use and comment).
- A.
  
  Strongly disagree
- B.
  
  Disagree
- C.
  
  Neutral
- D.
  
  Agree
- E.
  
  Strongly agree
7.

In one sentence, I can tell you exactly what problem we’re solving and why our solution is the best one for that specific problem.
- A.
  
  Strongly disagree
- B.
  
  Disagree
- C.
  
  Neutral
- D.
  
  Agree
- E.
  
  Strongly agree
8.

Everyone at my company has regular contact with our customers, and we use those interactions to make our product better.
- A.
  
  Strongly disagree
- B.
  
  Disagree
- C.
  
  Neutral
- D.
  
  Agree
- E.
  
  Strongly agree
9.

Of all the questions I have about my business, I know which are most important and how I’ll search for answers.
- A.
  
  Strongly disagree
- B.
  
  Disagree
- C.
  
  Neutral
- D.
  
  Agree
- E.
  
  Strongly agree
10.

We understand what motivates our customers: why they come, why they buy, why they stay.
- A.
  
  Strongly disagree
- B.
  
  Disagree
- C.
  
  Neutral
- D.
  
  Agree
- E.
  
  Strongly agree
11.

We do a lot with a little; we get a great return on our resources.
- A.
  
  Strongly disagree
- B.
  
  Disagree
- C.
  
  Neutral
- D.
  
  Agree
- E.
  
  Strongly agree
12.

Fire drills (unplanned, urgent tasks) rarely interrupt our work cycles.
- A.
  
  Strongly disagree
- B.
  
  Disagree
- C.
  
  Neutral
- D.
  
  Agree
- E.
  
  Strongly agree
13.

There is very little half-finished work sitting around -- tasks are either “open” and someone is working on them or they have been scrapped entirely.
- A.
  
  Strongly disagree
- B.
  
  Disagree
- C.
  
  Neutral
- D.
  
  Agree
- E.
  
  Strongly agree
14.

We define our work cycles based on what we need to learn, rather than a prescriptive product roadmap.
- A.
  
  Strongly disagree
- B.
  
  Disagree
- C.
  
  Neutral
- D.
  
  Agree
- E.
  
  Strongly agree
15.

In our team, we tap everyone's knowledge, and feedback is typically put to use.
- A.
  
  Strongly disagree
- B.
  
  Disagree
- C.
  
  Neutral
- D.
  
  Agree
- E.
  
  Strongly agree
16.

I'm sometimes uncomfortable with the work we deliver (it's not perfect) - but we always learn from it.
- A.
  
  Strongly disagree
- B.
  
  Disagree
- C.
  
  Neutral
- D.
  
  Agree
- E.
  
  Strongly agree
17.

Everyone knows what their colleagues are working on, why they’re working on it and how it fits into the big picture.
- A.
  
  Strongly disagree
- B.
  
  Disagree
- C.
  
  Neutral
- D.
  
  Agree
- E.
  
  Strongly agree
18.

Disagreements in our company are usually productive and increase trust.
- A.
  
  Strongly disagree
- B.
  
  Disagree
- C.
  
  Neutral
- D.
  
  Agree
- E.
  
  Strongly agree
19.

As a team, we actively discuss what's true - even when it's difficult or uncomfortable.
- A.
  
  Strongly disagree
- B.
  
  Disagree
- C.
  
  Neutral
- D.
  
  Agree
- E.
  
  Strongly agree
20.

We use leverage: We’re good at mobilizing resources we don’t own to get the job done.
- A.
  
  Strongly disagree
- B.
  
  Disagree
- C.
  
  Neutral
- D.
  
  Agree
- E.
  
  Strongly agree