What are the Essential Elements of Your Business?

When thinking about how to communicate about your business, project, or event, it’s best to start with its most essential features.

The “5 Ws” of fundamental problem solving are useful here:

• Who?
• What?
• When?
• Where?
• Why?

Who: This begins with who you are as an individual or a business owner, and also includes the name of your business. In your initial communications, on your website, or at your location, you might include a picture and a short description of yourself, other business owners, and primary staff with their titles.

What: This seems simple but sometimes it can be a useful exercise. Perhaps you are opening a coffee shop. Is it a coffee shop that also serves food? Does it only serve coffee, or smoothies and other drinks as well? You might include that information in the name or other communications.

When: For a physical location, you should include your hours of operation. For an online business, customers should be able to assume that you’ll respond promptly, or else communicate your availability otherwise.

Where: A physically located business will have an address (which will also need to be communicated digitally). A digital business should have an online “home,” whether that’s a webpage or its social media pages.

Why: This question should start with a simple answer, but as a business grows its marketing, the answer can become more complex. To start, a coffee shop owner might say: “This business exists to serve coffee during morning and brunch.” A more complex answer might be: “This business exists to serve coffee to morning business commuters in the city.” Each additional element of information can inform how you market a business. These elements might also change and evolve over time.

This question can also grow in complexity as you think about your background and your story. Perhaps you open a cafe with organic and healthy ingredients because you are interested in nutrition, and want to contribute to the health of your community. Perhaps your cafe caters to working moms, with spaces and toys for kids, because you’re a mom who sought places to socialize outside of the house. These ideas can also be integrated with your marketing.