May I share with you a simple tool that has saved my business life on many occasions? The reason I'd like to do this is that I have made a momentous discovery. The main reason we small business owners fail to prosper is that we assume too much about too much.

We business owners think we know more than we do. We know that we're competent in the activity that generates our income, and we consequently think that we know everything there is to know about business. As a result, we don't ask enough questions.

Last year I was present at dozens of business proposals. The aspirant entrepreneur would sit down and describe - in enthusiastic detail - how his new mousetrap was going to change the world and how customers would beat a path to his door. The advantage about being a little on the slow side - as I am - is that you're allowed to ask embarrassing questions.

My favourite question is "Where is the money?" It's embarrassing because it's usually followed by a stunned silence. And then the aspirant entrepreneur starts his presentation right from the beginning because I obviously haven't been listening!

If there is any secret to being a success in business - it is simply this - Ask lots of questions but assume nothing. Which means that the most important tools you can ever possess as a business owner are the following:

Who
Who exactly is going to buy my products? Who exactly is going to pay for this purchase? Who exactly is going to supply the working capital? Who exactly will be responsible for this task? Who exactly will she report to? Who exactly is going to take over when I'm gone? Who exactly will I turn to for help when I get a summons? Who exactly will I reward when this is done successfully? Who exactly will I punish if it isn't?

Why
Why exactly am I doing this? Why exactly would someone buy from me? Why exactly am I uncomfortable with this person? Why exactly is this deal structured like this? Why exactly do they want me, and not someone else?

Where
Where exactly is the money? Where exactly am I supposed to deliver? Where exactly is the jurisdiction if something goes wrong? Where exactly will we be meeting?

When
When exactly will I get paid? When exactly will they deliver? When exactly will I leave this business?

What
What exactly am I expected to do? What exactly will happen when it goes wrong? What exactly can I do now to protect myself? What exactly can I do to add more value to this sale? What exactly will happen if I do nothing? What exactly will happen if my partner dies/gets married/elopes/resigns/gets chicken pox?

How
How many people exactly walk past this location that I am planning to rent? How much exactly will it really cost if I include all the hidden bits? How exactly can I do this with less risk? How exactly can I make more money doing this? How exactly can I increase the value my clients get? How exactly will I get out later if it goes wrong?

The difference that I notice between those of us who are extremely successful and those of us who aren't is simply this - the more questions you ask the more successful you seem to be. In other words, the less you assume, the more likely you are to avoid disaster. The less you assume, the less time you will spend in recovering from challenges. The less you assume the more you will ask. And the more you ask the more you will learn.

Assumption is the mother of disaster. Yet daily we make assumptions. What is the difference between a doctor who passed medical school with 98% and one who passed after his fifth attempt with 51%? Who would you rather have doing open heart surgery on you?

What is the difference between an attorney passing first time with 99% and one scraping by after four attempts with 51%? Who would you rather have representing your case?

My plan for success in 2001 - ask lots of questions. Why do you think the God gave me two ears but just one mouth? [My 10 year old son assures me that I would look real funny with two mouths and one ear!]

What are you planning to do differently this coming year to enhance your successes of last year and to reduce the "learning experiences"? How can I help?

© Peter Carruthers, www.petesweekly.co.za

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