Creativity in Business: Ask Some Searching Questions

Creativity plays a big part in the development of any successful business. Your ability to creatively solve problems and spot opportunities will determine just how far you and your business go.

One of the best ways to kick-start your creativity, is to ask yourselves some searching questions. Ones that lead you to creatively search for answers and new ideas.

Here are 32 questions, designed to help you think creatively about the development of your business. There are some overlapping re-appraisal questions included to help you examine things from different perspectives.

1. What additional, valuable products or services can I offer to my existing clients or customers (herein called clients)? This is the fastest way to generate a massively profitable boost to your revenue and profits.


2. How am I fully utilising technology in my business? Are there processes that I could streamline, which would give me more time to deal personally with my clients and prospective clients?


3. How can I improve the way I deliver my services?


4. Do I take enough time out, to thank people as often as I should?


5. What new markets could use my products or services?


6. How can I improve the quality of my products or services, so that they are of even more value to existing and prospective clients?


7. Am I associating with the right kind of people, for what I want to achieve?


8. What three things could I do, which would improve the visibility of my business?


9. How can I reach 500% more prospective clients with my marketing message?


10. How can I make my day-to-day work more fun? This is really important!


11. What’s the best way for me to encourage more people, to recommend me to their network and contacts?


12. How is my sales and marketing efforts focused and is it enough?


13. How can I improve my time management and travelling overheads?


14. How do I take action on the ideas I generate, so they have a chance to make a real difference?


15. Should I be thinking about doing some kind of joint venture with another, high quality company?


16. How am I limiting the development of my business, by not investing in professional help in the areas where I am weakest? If so, which area do I need to invest in first?


17. How often do I ask my clients for their feedback, regarding the service they receive from me and what additional services they would like me to offer?


18. What are my marketing goals? If you have not got any written, measurable, specific marketing goals, write some down right now!


19. How similar are my services to my competitors? Most service providers look too alike, so the marketplace uses price as a way to differentiate and judge value.


20. How can I differentiate myself from my competitors, so that I have something uniquely valuable to bring to the marketplace?


21. How do I get enough leads and enquiries via my website or blog? If not, how can I increase this, so my site becomes a lead generating machine for my business?


22. When was the last time a client sent me a “thank you” note?


23. Who would make a good endorsed relationship partner for me?


24. How do I attract enough word of mouth referrals and why?


25. How aware am I, of my client’s problems and challenges? You need to know what’s happening in your client’s world, if you want to be empathetic to them.


26. Do I have a large shallow network, spread over a wide area. Or a smaller deeper, more meaningful one?


27. How many other websites or blogs link to my website or blog? This is important if you are working online, because internal links account for the majority of your search engine optimisation (SEO)


28. How am I working to a marketing plan or strategy. Am I simply doing tactical marketing?


29. How good is my customer service? Yes, do compare yourself to what your competitors offer but also compare yourself to the finest level of service you can possibly offer.


30. Do I still have the same passion for my business that I used to have?


31. How many of the people I network with on Twitter, Facebook or other social networking sites have I actually spoken to or met?


32. How are my online marketing activities producing bankable results, or just a ton of meaningless, social media numbers? If you have the friends, followers and fans but not the bankable results, you might want to review your strategy.


33. How do I exceed people’s expectations?