Six months ago Melissa invested her life savings in establishing an online store. Sales are not going as well as she’d hoped. When Melissa isn’t making or photographing products and uploading them to her store, she’s worrying about generating more sales. The time she spends worrying and reacting to her anxiety in the moment doesn’t result in a plan that will change things. While she’s focusing on the result of the problem, Melissa isn’t getting to the root of it—she’s not sure who her products are for and what unmet need her business is fulfilling.

Everyday problems become major challenges when we don’t take the time to understand why they have arisen. Without that understanding, there is no way to create a plan to overcome them.

5 Questions For You

1. What’s the number one challenge facing your business right now?

2. Why is this your biggest problem?

3. What’s at the root of the problem?

4. What’s the first step you need to take to resolve it?

5. What resources (time, energy, money) will you devote to solving the problem?

Insight (which is available for free), is one of the most underrated business advantages we have.

Image by Gregor Fischer.