# Analyze a business problem strategically and recommend a direction

Frames a business problem, looks at it from market, customer, competitor, and capability angles, and recommends a direction with the trade-offs spelled out.

- Topic: Business Strategy & Startups
- Framework: Few-Shot
- Level: Advanced
- Tags: Strategy, Analyze, Plan, Fill-in Template
- Source: https://www.thinkwithprompt.com/prompts/analyze-a-business-problem-strategically-and-recommend-a-direction

## Prompt

```text
Help me analyze a business problem from a strategic perspective, not just an operational one.

**The problem:** [DESCRIBE IT - e.g. "our largest product line has lost share for three quarters"]
**Business context:** [what we sell, to whom, size, business model]
**What we know (facts and numbers):** [PASTE DATA, notes, or findings]
**What has been tried:** [PAST FIXES and what happened]
**Constraints:** [budget, timeline, people, policies, things leadership won't change]
**Decision I need to support:** [e.g. "recommend whether to invest, fix, or exit"]

Work through it in this order:
1. Restate the problem in one sentence, and say whether it is a symptom or the underlying issue. Name the question leadership actually needs answered.
2. Look at it from five angles: customers (needs, behavior shifts), market (size, trends, regulation), competitors (moves, positioning), our capabilities (strengths, gaps), and economics (revenue, cost, margin effect).
3. List 2-3 plausible explanations, with the evidence for and against each, and what data would settle it.
4. Lay out 3 strategic options (including doing nothing). For each: what it involves, expected upside, cost, risks, time to impact, and what we would have to stop doing.
5. Recommend one option and the conditions under which I should change my mind.

Return: a one-paragraph summary, the analysis in the sections above, an options comparison table (Option | Upside | Cost | Risk | Time to impact | Fit with constraints), and the 3 next steps for the next 30 days.

Rules: use only the facts I gave. Mark assumptions as [ASSUMPTION] and missing data as [NEED DATA: ...]. Do not invent market figures or competitor facts. The recommendation is input for my judgment, not the final decision.
```

## What to fill in

- what we sell, to whom, size, business model
- PASTE DATA, notes, or findings
- PAST FIXES and what happened
- e.g. "recommend whether to invest, fix, or exit"
- ASSUMPTION
- NEED DATA: ...

Free to copy and use. From ThinkWithPrompt (https://www.thinkwithprompt.com/), a library of 2,663 curated AI prompts.