The Twenty-Five Questions You Need to Answer Before Launching your Brand-New Start-Up Business:

1. What is different about what you do? Any answers including low/lower prices are not valid.
2. How did you decide your prices? Any answers mentioning 'didn’t' are not valid.
3. Have you assumed all those people who promised you business at your leaving-the-firm-party will actually give you business? Any answer including yes is not valid.
4. If your revenue flow ends up being 15% less than you forecast, what is your plan B? Any answer including cancelling the kids college, asking your father in law or going back to the bank, are not valid.
5. How good are you at selling? Any answers suggesting that (a) it is beneath you (b) you’ll hire someone in to do that for you (c) your product is so good it doesn’t need to be sold,  ANV (er: are not valid).
6. Can you sell? You see, you didn’t answer question 5: you skipped it!
7. In one word what is the difference between your MBA and the real world?. Only one valid answer: consequences. Exhilarating, frightening, keep-you-up-at-night, make you who you need to become consequences.
8. Have you answered all of the above before worrying about your logo? Correct answer: yes.
9. …your first press release? (ditto)
10. …your new car? (ditto)
11. How many successful start-up entrepreneurs have you spoken to? No: I didn’t ask whether you had read their books. Actually spoken to? Answers needs to be ' >3'.
12. How long is your prospect list today? Any complaining about you haven’t started trading yet is invalid. You’ll need more business than you ever thought possible to keep your enterprise afloat. You started trading the day you seriously decided to start your own business. So: are you serious? Or is this the Disney film version?
13. How quickly can you remedy any of the above weaknesses? 24h would be the perfect answer. Think Jack Bauer.
14. You may be smart. Are you also resilient?
15. You may be creative, can you also take action?
16. You may want to control your own destiny, but can you grovel to the bank?
17. Can you run your entire operation from the kitchen table? No? How come it has become so complicated so quickly?
18. What is your measure of success?
19. How can you halve your costs immediately (you are buying new office furniture? Are you crazy?)
20. Who's your coach/mentor?
21. What is stopping you launch tomorrow?
22. Write the expenses guide-lines today, before the employees arrive.
23. Re-write the bonus plan now: more on margin and profit.
24. Are you excited despite all of the hurdles to leap?
25. Awesome: you’ll do it. And you'll love it.