Am I ready to hire staff? 

What kind of work-life balance can entrepreneurship give me? 

Is everyone struggling with the same challenges—or is it just me? 

Most small business owners have asked themselves the same questions.

But when it comes to advice about running your business, everyone’s going to have an opinion: your friends, your family, and even influencers on the internet. 

Advice is everywhere, but it isn’t necessarily a replacement for a meaningful conversation with someone who wants to see you achieve your business goals. 

We turned to our ATB Entrepreneurial Growth Team to find out what questions they ask their clients, what questions their clients ask them, and what it’s like watching business owners have a breakthrough after digging a little deeper into what they need and want from their entrepreneurial journey.

The most frequently asked questions from small business clients 

These questions are usually about getting financing, juggling multiple responsibilities, buying a business, and knowing where to start, according to ATBers.

Business owners want to know what financing options are available to them to grow their business, says Taryn Dhari, Business Advisor. 

Tanya Kroeker, Vice President of ATB’s Entrepreneurial Growth Team echoes that sentiment, and the importance of the bank’s role in getting funding. “Bankers are essential in helping businesses access capital, which is vital for growth and sustainability. Your banker should partner with you to identify opportunities to grow your business and help you understand how to access the necessary capital to do so. They should be an advisor that cares and has belief in your business and what you’re trying to achieve.”

Other entrepreneurs ask questions about all the balls they’re juggling. And which need to stay in the air and which can drop. 

“I am often asked about how to balance all of the duties that fall on their plate,” said  Cliff Turner, Entrepreneur Ecosystem Strategist at ATB.

“This means taking an inventory of their skills and time along with that of their employees, and then determining what to focus on personally, delegate, outsource, or simply drop.”

Advisors get a lot of questions about where to start. Clients want to launch a business, but they are looking for help kicking things off, and understanding the roadmap to access the necessary financing for their business. 

Another frequently broached subject is whether a business is worth buying. Advisors will approach that by asking more questions about assets, shares, formal valuations, and the selling price. But there’s one question that is commonly considered  the most important: why is the owner selling it in the first place? 

It’s also important to dig into questions to determine if the buyer has any experience operating the type of business they want to buy.

What business owners are looking for help with 

Cash flow, goal alignment, and increasing profitability are all topics business owners bring up regularly. They want to boost their revenue, while lowering costs, so that their profit increases year over year. 

“Many small businesses struggle to maintain a healthy cash flow, which is crucial for covering expenses, investing in their company, and managing day-to-day operations,” Dhari said. 

“Entrepreneurs also often need guidance in prioritizing all of the opportunities in front of them so that they can progress in a sustainable way toward their goals,” said Turner.

The follow-up question: how to dig deeper for the ‘aha’ moment

Giving out personalized advice is ideal. To truly understand where clients are coming from, our advisors try to dig a little deeper or build on an original question. 

“A great follow up question I ask is: what specific challenges are you currently facing that might be hindering your business growth and how can we work together to address them?” Dhari said. 

Turner likes to ask entrepreneurs what kind of lifestyle they would like their business to provide. Running a business can create feelings of 24/7 pressure, and clients might not even realize that’s not what they want until someone asks. 

“I had someone realize that they ultimately wanted a fairly simple, stress-free lifestyle. They had been feeling pressure from their peers—and somewhat from themselves—to always be looking for ways to grow at as fast a pace as possible,” Turner said. 

“However, scaling back their daily involvement, delegating more and concentrating on quality over quantity would help them realize that calmer lifestyle. Their relief in that moment was visible on their face.”

A question that digs deeper would be one that asks the business owner to consider their business’ target markets. The question encourages them to unpack their potential buyers’ behaviours, attributes, and pain points. With this information, they can formulate solutions to their target markets’ problems. Thinking how their markets think will give the business owner an advantage in connecting with their ideal clients.

Questions about successes, not just stumbling blocks 

Running a business is a big responsibility, so it’s no surprise that struggles and roadblocks are big topics of conversation. Advisors can help clients shift their perspective with the kind of question they ask. 

“Entrepreneurs love to talk about their business,” said Turner. “Often, they can get sucked into talking about their challenges above all else. Asking them, even generally, about their victories is a great way to put them in a confident headspace. It ends up being a much better place to address the challenges from.” 

“Entrepreneurs and small business owners inject billions into the economy, spurring innovation across diverse industry sectors and creating incredible impact within our province and beyond,” shares Kroeker. “The entrepreneurial engine in our province is critical to Alberta’s growth over the coming years.”

A solid exit plan starts with a conversation  

When business owners start to consider winding down their operation or selling it so they can retire, crafting their exit plan starts with a series of questions. The team recently helped a husband and wife team answer their own question: can we sell the business in five years and retire?

First, ATB asked questions about the company, its structure, the management team, staff members, products, services, suppliers, and customers. The back-and-forth exchange helped the client articulate what retirement would look like, ideally. 

ATB advisors were able to help the clients determine how much they would expect to receive from the sale of their company, and whether that windfall would be enough to retire on when combined with their own savings. 

In the end, it was determined the business will need to grow substantially over the next five years to allow the clients to retire comfortably.

“The passion small business owners have is contagious, and every day, we’re inspired and fueled by our client’s stories, watching you break into new markets, take risks and seize opportunities at the right time. It’s an honour to support our local leaders and visionaries who are taking their businesses to the next level,” shares Kroeker.