This template is a set of questions designed to help you articulate the key elements of a business concept for a new venture or new product line.
Learn about the Business concept template here:
http://tools.tangiblefuture.com/business-concept.html
1. Business Concept Ingredients
BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY QUESTIONAIRE
CONFIDENTIAL
Project #: Company: Champion: Date:
Opportunity Title:
Instructions:
1. This questionnaire is intended to apply to one business opportunity, and we define that in terms of a specific need, which a specific
person or organization has, and which is met by a specific product or service.
2. If you have several distinct “needs” or several distinct “products/services” in mind, there should be a separate questionnaire filled out
for each one.
3. It is likely that you will not know the answers to every question. That is OK. If you do not know an answer, fill in “I do not know”.
The Need
The Need
What is the ultimate “Need” that you are trying to meet?
What makes you think this is in fact a “need”?
If this is a future need (ie they do not have it today but you think they
will tomorrow), when do we think this need will become important?
What evidence do we have that this need will become important on that
time scale (or at all)?
What could happen to make this need no longer be a need?
The ultimate customer
Who (or what type of organization) has that need?
How many such people/organizations are there in the world with that
need?
Present-day scenario: PMO comparison (Present Mode of Operation)
How do they satisfy that need today?
What is wrong/imperfect with the way they satisfy the need today?
What products or services do they use today to attempt to meet the
“need”?
Who supplies the current products or services?
Importance of Need
How important is this need?
Why?
What are the adverse consequences of this need being unmet, or being
addressed the way it is today?
Who suffers these adverse consequences?
The Product / Service
The product / service
What would a business actually sell if this project led to success?
Describe the product or service.
Explain how this product or service would be used to meet the need
Superiority to PMO
In what way does this product or service do a superior job at meeting
the need than whatever is used today?
Is it better, or cheaper, or both?
By what multiple is it better or cheaper (eg 10x, 2x etc)?
What benefit does the user (person who has the need) get from using
your product / service rather than whatever they do today?
Is this something they care a lot about or a little about?
TangibleFuture, Inc. 2008. vA2 p1/3
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs
3.0 UnportedLicense
For questions, or guidance in applying this template, contact Richard Caro. Email: admin[at]tangiblefuture[dot]com www.tangiblefuture.com
2. Business Concept Ingredients
BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY QUESTIONAIRE
CONFIDENTIAL
What evidence do we have to support the quantification of how much
they “care” about the benefits of our “improved” solution?
Is there anything that the PMO solution does that our solution will not
do?
If so, is that an important missing piece that will counterbalance the
advantage of our solution?
Solution/Need summary
What unmet need does this product/service fill?
Who would use this product or service?
On whom/what would it be used?
What would it be used to do?
Why would that lead to better results or lower costs than what is done
today?
Who would pay for it?
The Technology
Core technology
What is the basic technology underpinning this business concept?
In what way does this enable the product/service in question?
Who else may be able to develop similar technology over the next 3-5
years?
How different is this technology to other technology that is being
developed? Why?
In what way does this technology allow a superior solution to the need
than would other technologies being developed over the next few
years?
What stops someone else coming up with something similar to our
solution/product?
Business Model
Business model/Ecosystem outline
Describe the business model for this idea (ie What exactly would your
company make? To whom would it be sold? If this is not the end
customer who has the ultimate need, what other pieces of the solution
will need to come together, and what type of companies will do that? If
your company is going to license something rather than make
something, what will be licensed and to whom?
How will this product/service get to the end customer?
What other pieces in the ecosystem will need to participate for this
product/service to be successful?
Value model
In what way will this result in the end user getting better value and how
can that be quantified?
What portion of that value is it realistic to imagine you can command?
Sustainable Competitive Advantage
Competitive advantage
Why is your product/service better than PMO?
Why is it better than products/services being developed that will hit the
market in 3-5 years?
TangibleFuture, Inc. 2008. vA2 p2/3
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs
3.0 UnportedLicense
For questions, or guidance in applying this template, contact Richard Caro. Email: admin[at]tangiblefuture[dot]com www.tangiblefuture.com
3. Business Concept Ingredients
BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY QUESTIONAIRE
CONFIDENTIAL
What is it about your approach that will give you a sustainable
competitive advantage (ie what stops others coming along and eating
your lunch once you have shown the way)?
Who will be your likely future competitors?
Who makes directly competitive solutions to the need today?
What stops someone else coming up with something similar to our
solution/product/service?
Financing
Financing requirements
How much will it cost to get to a demonstration of the proof of
principle of the product or service?
How much will it take to get a working prototype of a product or
service?
How much will it take to get a finished product to market?
How much will it take to get the business to cashflow neutrality?
TangibleFuture, Inc. 2008. vA2 p3/3
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs
3.0 UnportedLicense
For questions, or guidance in applying this template, contact Richard Caro. Email: admin[at]tangiblefuture[dot]com www.tangiblefuture.com