# Focused business interview

Use this guide to select the next question, not to ask every question in sequence.

If the business is unknown, begin with its offer and customer. If those are established, follow the stated bottleneck. For decisions, recommend a practical answer with a reason; for facts, suggest a short answer format.

## Business and outcomes

Understand the operating model, locations or service area, team roles, seasonality, payment model and major commitments. Distinguish current operations from intended expansion.

Clarify whether the owner wants profitable sales, cash stability, capacity, retention, reliability or fewer administrative hours. Establish a horizon and one observable result.

A useful challenge is to ask which step would struggle first if demand increased.

## Trace one actual workflow

Follow a representative lead or order through qualification, quote, scheduling or purchasing, delivery, acceptance, payment and follow-up. Identify where work waits, why and who owns the handoff.

Investigate the first consequential gap before exploring every later step. An unclear responsibility does not automatically require new software.

## Choose relevant branches

| Area | Learn what changes the next decision |
|---|---|
| Sales and pipeline | Stage meanings, fit, ownership, follow-up and stalled work |
| People and capacity | Responsibilities, training, workload, scheduling and review needs |
| Vendors and purchasing | Buying authority, supplier performance, terms and receiving evidence |
| Inventory and distribution | Available versus committed or incoming stock, lead time, returns and partner economics |
| Expenses and cash | Receipt completeness, approvals, reimbursement, collections and reconciliation |
| Customer service | Repeated issues, response expectations, exceptions and renewal decisions |
| Marketing and pricing | Audience, supported claims, margin limits and evidence of useful demand |
| Operations and risk | Repeated procedures, failure recovery, dependencies and required evidence |
| Reporting and knowledge | Metric definitions, source records, freshness and conflicting instructions |

Use the catalog for the actual skill names and paths after the workflow is understood.

## Practical setup questions

Learn the current tools and account-owning roles only as needed. Clarify the chosen LLM application's file and tool capabilities, local/cloud preferences, budget limits and administrator constraints.

Never ask the owner to paste passwords, tokens or other secrets. Use role labels and approximate values when specific identity or exact amounts are unnecessary.

## When to proceed

Proceed when the first workflow's owner, inputs, output, constraints and success measure are clear. Turn a missing baseline into a measurement task where possible.

If an answer could change the chosen tool, scope, cost or authority, resolve it before that dependent step. Otherwise record the uncertainty and continue useful work.

Respect a request to stop. Return settled decisions, partial context and one next question rather than continuing a fixed intake form.