The 5W’s + 1H

As business owners, we are always striving to get our product, service, or information out to a larger audience.  One that will hopefully become a customer or client.  There are many tools, techniques, apps, websites, etc. that all promise to gain brand awareness or increase sales.  Before you go and drop precious revenue dollars on the next cold-caller or latest technology, make sure you have a grasp on the basics of your business.

Remember in grade school learning about the 5W’s + 1H?  The who, what, when, where, why, and how. 

You can use these easy questions to learn more about your business than you imagined.  These 6 words will open up a world of questioning and wonder!

Here are a few of the W’s that you might want to ask yourself about your business:

Who…?

  • Who are we? Vision, Mission, Value Proposition
  • Who are our customers?
  • Who are our competitors?

What…?

  • What is our current marketing strategy?
  • What are our short term, mid term, long term goals?
  • What are we missing?
  • What is our reputation?

When…?

  • Are we timing promotions/advertising appropriately?
  • When are we reporting/analyzing our sales & marketing data?

Where…?

  • Where are we promoting our business?
  • Where can our customers buy from us?

Why…?

  • Why did we choose the current marketing strategy?
  • Why do we want to change our marketing?
  • Why do our customers trust us with their business?

How…?

  • How are we reaching our ideal audience?
  • How are we positioned in the market?
  • How can we scale?

The list of questions can be never ending and it may be a long way to the bottom of the rabbit hole.  But the more we question our business, our motives, and our tactics, the better position we will be in to grow and scale.

So, have fun with this exercise and draw on the lectures about the 5W’s + 1H.  Never stop learning your business and always ask questions! 

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