The Five W's (and One H) of Entrepreneurship

Let’s start at the very beginning! It is important to ask yourself some very serious questions about what you are about to build and the company you intend to start. Sooner or later, you will develop expertise at something. Here’s where you start to use that expertise to forge your destiny.

Before we begin, I applaud you. The fact that you stumbled across my neck of the woods says that you are intrigued, interested in making a change, or at least thought about a side hustle. Just the thought of starting a business means that you are going to need help. Well, here you go.

Now it’s time to get to some #truthtelling.

Ideas are a dime a dozen. Some are good, others not so much. Not every idea warrants a company and not everyone can run a good business. At the same time, most ideas are not new. They have their spin or uniqueness about them.

Running a business isn’t the hardest thing in the world. It requires some forethought, tenacity, drive, and in my opinion, a little bit of luck.

Now, this is not going to be a cakewalk. But, this is going to require you to dig deep and be clear about your dreams.

In school, we learn that all situations may be analyzed by focusing on: who, what, when, where, how, and why. Every business has to be able to answer these six questions to be successful. Well, this is where our journey starts.

The Five Ws (and One H) of Entrepreneurship

What are you going to make or do? Your vision: product or service.
Why will customers buy from you? Why would someone use your product or service? Why are you different?
Who needs it? Understand your community, target market, target customers, and ideal customer.
Where will you sell? Location, Location, Location. Online and/or physical locations must be considered depending on your what. Even if you are going to blog, you have a whole host of things that you must consider on the internet.
When will you launch, ramp, and get paid? Your development and timeline, launch and ramp plan, revenue plan.
How are you going to make it? Your development and operating plan: make vs buy; Perhaps you should outsource.

When I said this was going to be hard, I meant it. Not to scare you, but I want to make sure you get that. If you think any of this is simple or you can get by with a quick and dirty plan, that’s not going to cut it.

“The dream is free. The hustle is sold separately.”

There are tons of more questions that we can ask. For example, where are you going to get the money to start this business? We will get to that in due time.

Of course, if you need some help, that’s what I’m here for. Come on, you didn’t think I’d leave you hanging, did you?

But, if you can’t answer these six basic questions, then your side hustle or even working your main hustle is going to be very short-lived.