Is there a project, budget or a timeline?

In enterprise business development, often times people get carried away by something that looks like a real business opportunity, but sometimes it just ends up being a false positive. We may realize that only after a long time. We may end up spinning cycles and go deep into an opportunity which may lead to nowhere in the end. I have experienced this personally during the early days of my entrepreneurial career and have seen it experienced by my other engineer turned entrepreneur friends.?

Here is a simple framework that has helped me personally quite a bit to evaluate any business opportunity so I thought I would share with everyone. Every time I come across a business opportunity, I usually just ask three questions.

Is there a project?

Is there a budget?

Is there a timeline?

Only if the answer to the above turns out to be Yes or at the very least 2 of 3 turn out to be Yes, the opportunity is a qualified opportunity and I move forward. I have found this to be the best litmus test for qualifying any opportunity. But, you don’t just stop there, its good to dig deeper into the 3 questions, as sometimes a 'No' may not be a flat ‘No’, it may just mean ‘Not now’, and a ‘Yes’ may need more data to validate the opportunity completely.?

Is there a project?

• Beyond finding out if there is a project, the project also has to match the problem you are solving with your product or service. For example, if the project needs are buying mobile-phones and you are selling desks & chairs, it may not be a relevant project for you. But, say if the project needs are getting new computers, and you are selling desks & chairs, it may still be a relevant project but the timeline may be further out. For instance, maybe after the project needs are buying new computers right now, they may need desks & chairs. So, it would be worth digging deeper.

Is there a budget?

• Usually, when it comes to budget, what you are looking for is if the budget is in line with the sales goals of your company or business. For example, say the budget is $5000, and the product or service you are selling is $500,000, then there is not a perfect match with the opportunity for you. In this case, you may want to dig deeper to find out when the customer will be getting a budget that will match your product or service’s cost. What you really want to see if there is a budget and if the budget matches your requirements.

Is there a timeline?

• You need the actual timeline and the timeline has to match your business development, product development and company timeline, otherwise its pretty much not useful.?

These questions are not just to be asked one time. Even after an opportunity is qualified and gets into a sales pipeline, it helps asking the above 3 questions and re-evaluating constantly through out its lifecycle until the opportunity is closed.?

This has helped me keep grounded and be data driven with every business opportunity. After all, a fine balance of building great technology while solving real problems is what defines the fundamentals of a great company, and I have found the project-budget-timeline framework is extremely helpful towards that.?

If you feel this framework useful, feel free to pass this along to others.?