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ULTRA
BrainStorm
Workbook
Easily create a strategic plan to
unleash your small business today.

By: Steve Anderson

Contents
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What is ULTRA?!.....................................................................................................................!3!
Understand Your Customers!................................................................................................!4!
Learn Your Unique Advantage!...........................................................................................!6!
Trace Your Business!...............................................................................................................!8!
Recognize Opportunity!......................................................................................................!11!
Action!.....................................................................................................................................!14!
The Innovation Workshop!..................................................................................................!16!

Idea + Validation + Execution = Growth

The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing. Walt Disney, Disney founder
2

ULTRA BrainStorm Workbook

The speed of business increases every day and successful companies need to make
important decisions and implement them quickly. Your business has a unique story
that makes it different than all of its competitors. After thousands of hours of research
the ULTRA BrainStorm Workbook makes it easy for you to analyze your business and
create a strategic plan based on your current business model.
In order to get the most out of this workbook make sure that you complete the
exercises as you read. The process of writing this down will help refine your
knowledge and allow others to collaborate later on. When you are done you will
have a better understanding of your customers background, experience, viewpoint,
buying decision, and what you can do to influence them.

What is ULTRA?
The ULTRA BrainStorm Workbook is built around an analytical framework popular
in the technology startup community. Venture capital firms in Silicon Valley used
similar philosophies to jumpstart companies like Google and YouTube. To come up
with new ideas you need to be creative. This framework will help you develop and
sharpen those ideas.

U
L

nderstand your customers

earn your unique advantage

race your business

ecognize opportunity

ction

You don't need to have a 100-person company to develop that idea. Larry Page, Google Founder
3

nderstand Your Customers

At its core every business delivers something of value that a customer pays for. If
you can identify your unique advantage, you can learn to more effectively operate
your business. This exercise will help you unlock your hidden knowledge and pinpoint
exactly what your customers are looking for.
W rite down what you know about each of the flowing areas. The
process of writing this down will help refine your knowledge and allow others to
collaborate later on. When you are done, you will have a better understanding of
your customers background, experience, viewpoint, and buying decision.
1)

W ho are our current customers? W hat common characteristics d o

they have? W ho influences their decisions? W hat do they like and
dislike? W here do they live? W here do they hangout? W hat type of
education do they have? How can we contact them?
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2)

W ho are our ideal custom ers? W ho influences their decisions? W hat

do they like and dislike? W here do they live? W here do they
hangout? W hat type of education do they have? How can we
contact them?
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The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing. Walt Disney, Disney founder
4

3)

W hat other types of customer do we have? How old are they? W ho

influences their decisions? W hat do they like and dislike? W here
do they live? W here do they hangout? W hat type of education do
they have? How can we contact them ?
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4)

W hy do we usually lose customers? Do they find an alternative

product and/or service? Do they choose our competition? Can they
afford our products and/or service? Do our products and/or
services appropriately serve their needs?
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5)

W hat are the common characteristics of lost customers we miss? List

their concerns, motivations, and what prevents them from buying our
products and/or services.
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6) W hat changes have occurred in the market over the last year?
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You don't need to have a 100-person company to develop that idea. Larry Page, Google Founder
5

7)

How have we reacted to these changes?

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earn Your Unique Advantage

Most successful companies have a strong value proposition that resonates with
their customers. Your business survives because customers are willing to pay for that
value. When you understand who the potential customers are and how they find
value, you are suddenly in the drivers seat.
8)

W hat is your value proposition? A value proposition is

a promise of value to be delivered and experienced by the customer.
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9)

W ho is the competition and what do they do really well?

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The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing. Walt Disney, Disney founder
6

10) How are we different from the competition?

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11) Are there substitutes for my product and services?
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12) W hy do customers choose my company instead of the competition or

available substitutes?
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13) How does our com pany compete? (Circle one).

Premium Value

or

Low Cost

You don't need to have a 100-person company to develop that idea. Larry Page, Google Founder
7

race Your Business

To understand your business fill out your business model canvas on the next page.
This simple tool will help you get your creative juices flowing. It connects all the parts
of your business in an easy to understand visual format.

(M ake your own at www.wordle.net)

The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing. Walt Disney, Disney founder
8

!
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!
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Trace your custom ers buying decisions. This is often referred to as your
sales funnel. Learn what motivates your customer and how you acquire new
business. Follow the steps below.
1. Identify your buyers.
2. Diagram their buying processes.
3. Define the organizational resources responsible for each step (orange in this
example).
4. Define external resources use in the process (orange in this example).

Example

Need help? Get custom in-depth analysis.

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262-352-3200

ecognize Opportunity

Your business is a collection of processes that work together to provide value to

your customers. You execute these processes over and over and continue to drive
your business. In order to recognize your opportunities for growth, we will add your
actions into the diagram from the previous step.
14) Add the steps where you are currently involved in the customers
buying process to your diagram. Add the actions that you take.
M ark these steps in a distinct color (green).
15) M ark where your ideal customers leave your sales funnel. Refer to
your answers to questions 1 and 3.
16) Examine each step in the sales funnel and identify the customer
motivations to move to the next step. W rite them on our sales funnel
in a distinct color (blue).
17) W here are blockage points in our sales funnel? W hy do we miss the
customer we identified in question number 4 and 5?
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You don't need to have a 100-person company to develop that idea. Larry Page, Google Founder
11

19)

Based on your answer to question number 4 and 5 what additional

motivational tools can we use to get these customers to use our
products and/or services?

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20) W hy cant we quadruple the number of prospects at each stage?
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21) Based on your business model canvas, which actions drive the most
value to our current customers? How can we provide more value to
our customers?
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22) Are there segments in the market that are underserved? W hat can
we do to reach these market segments? W hat current tools do we
have to motivate them? W hat additional tools might motivate
customers in these segments? Refer to questions 3 and 6.
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The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing. Walt Disney, Disney founder
12

24) If you had to quadruple sales in the next six months, what would
stop you from accomplishing that?
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You don't need to have a 100-person company to develop that idea. Larry Page, Google Founder
13

ction

25) Start with current customers and work backwards through our sales
funnel. Look at each step. Brainstorm to see if there are creative
ways to improve conversion rates. N ote these on the sales funnel
and here.
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26) W hat additional actions could we take to motivate prospects through
the sales funnel? N ote these on the sales funnel and here.
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The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing. Walt Disney, Disney founder
14

27) Are there cheaper ways to perform each action you identified in
question 14 (marked in green on the sales funnel)? Can we replace
some of the outside sales people with inside sales people? Can we
replace some of the inside sales function with cheaper telemarketing
resources? Can we create sales tools to automate some of these
touch points? N ote these on the sales funnel and here.
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28) How long does it take to complete the whole sales cycle? W hat are
creative ways to shorten any of the phases? N ote these on the sales
funnel and here.
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You don't need to have a 100-person company to develop that idea. Larry Page, Google Founder
15

The Innovation Workshop

Experience the power of collaborative brainstorming. Sign up today and
create a comprehensive strategic plan in 1 day. Book an Innovation
Workshop for your small business!

Additional Benefits
Professional analysis tools
Map customer buying decisions
Identify core competency
Optimized sales funnel
Professional facilitation
Personal attention

100% Satisfaction Guarantee

Contact Laylines Consulting Today!

!

Info@LaylinesConsulting.com
!

www.LaylinesConsulting.com
262-352-3200

The input and guidance that Laylines Consulting

provided proved to be extremely valuable.
Drew Fink, CEO Captifeye
The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing. Walt Disney, Disney founder
16