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Skillsclient-intake

client-intake

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Updated 10-16 08:03

About this skill

Client Intake Two-Phase Kickstart

Use When

  • Use at the start of every new business-plan, proposal, feasibility, or funding engagement.
  • Use when the business context is still incomplete and the rest of the suite would otherwise be forced to guess.
  • Use before invoking section skills so the plan starts from a coherent intake baseline.

Do Not Use When

  • Do not use after a high-quality project brief and assumptions baseline already exist.
  • Do not use as a replacement for market validation, financial modelling, or due diligence.
  • Do not use to fabricate missing client data; surface the gaps explicitly instead.

Required Inputs

  • Business name, concept, sector, and country if known
  • Founder or client answers to the 10 standard intake questions
  • Funder or output type if already known: bank, investor, DFI, grant, proposal
  • Any existing documents, rough notes, decks, financials, or proposals to mine for context

Workflow

  1. Run the 10 standard intake questions exactly as defined.
  2. Convert the answers into a draft project brief with clear [TO CONFIRM] markers.
  3. Identify what is still missing for strategy, market, operations, team, finance, and funding logic.
  4. Generate targeted follow-up questions specific to the current gaps.
  5. Classify the engagement by audience and likely workflow path.
  6. Hand off a clean intake baseline to the section and meta skills.

Quality Bar

  • The intake captures enough context to prevent generic section drafting.
  • Unknowns are clearly labelled rather than silently assumed.
  • The project brief is structured so later skills can reuse it directly.
  • Follow-up questions are specific to this business, not a generic survey.

Anti-Patterns

  • Jumping into section drafting before the intake baseline exists.
  • Asking vague catch-all questions instead of targeted clarifying questions.
  • Collapsing real uncertainty into false certainty.
  • Leaving funder type, country context, or business stage implicit.

Outputs

  • A draft project brief or intake summary
  • A list of unresolved assumptions and information gaps
  • Targeted follow-up questions
  • A recommended downstream skill path

Standardise every new engagement with a structured intake process. Phase 1 presents 10 fixed questions and converts the answers into a draft project brief. Phase 2 generates targeted follow-up questions specific to this client's gaps.

Phase 1 The 10 Standard Questions

Present these questions exactly as written. Do not split, reorder, or merge them. The client answers in free-form prose.

Question 1 Your Business Tell us about your business in your own words. What does it do, how long has it been operating (or is it a new idea), what sector is it in, where is it based, how many people are involved, and what is its legal structure for example, a sole trader, partnership, limited company, or co-operativeSection If the business already has a name, please include it.

Question 2 The Problem You Are Solving What problem or gap in the market does your business addressSection Who is experiencing this problem and why are they not being served well todaySection What made you identify this opportunity personal experience, research, a gap you observed and why is now the right time to act on itSection

Question 3 Your Product or Service Describe what your business offers in plain language. How does it work, from the customer's point of viewSection Is it still an idea, a prototype, an early version you are testing, or something you are already sellingSection What are the most important features or components, and what makes it work the way it doesSection

Question 4 Your Customers Who are your customersSection Describe the kind of person or organisation that would buy from you their age, location, income level, or type of business if it is a business-to-business sale. How many potential customers do you believe exist, even roughlySection Is your market local, national, or internationalSection Have you already sold to anyone, and if so, whoSection

Question 5 How You Make Money How does your business earn revenueSection Walk us through your pricing what you charge, how you decided on that price, and whether customers pay once or on a recurring basis. Through what channels do you sell for example, a physical shop, agents, online, direct salesSection Do you have any sales already, and if so, what do those numbers look likeSection

Question 6 Your Competition Who else is offering something similar to your target customers, whether directly or as an alternativeSection Why would a customer choose you over themSection Do you have anything that gives you a lasting advantage a unique process, a relationship, intellectual property, a location, a cost advantage, or exclusive access to somethingSection Are there any well-known brands or large players in this spaceSection

Question 7 Your Finances What is the current financial position of the business is it earning revenue, breaking even, or pre-revenueSection Has the business received any funding, loans, or investment to date, and if so, how much and from whomSection How much funding are you looking for now, and what specifically would you use it forSection Do you have any existing financial projections, even rough ones, that you can shareSection

Question 8 What You Need From Us What document are we producing for youSection For example: a full business plan, an investor pitch deck, a bank loan proposal, a grant application, a feasibility study, or an executive summary. Who will read it a bank loan officer, an investor, a grant committee, a government body, a board of directorsSection When do you need it, and are there any format requirements or word limits we should know aboutSection

Question 9 The People Behind the Business Who are the key people running this business founders, directors, or senior managersSection What is their relevant background, qualifications, or experienceSection Are there any obvious skill gaps in the team right now, and if so, how do you plan to fill themSection Do you have any advisors, board members, or mentors supporting the businessSection

Question 10 Anything That Affects What We Can Write Is there anything we need to know before we start that affects what can be included in this document or how it is presentedSection For example: your sector may be regulated and require specific licences; you may have applied for funding before and been turned down; there may be a partner, investor, or stakeholder who must approve the plan before it is submitted; there may be information you consider confidential; or there may be any other unusual circumstances we should be aware of.

Phase 1 Output Draft Project Brief

Immediately on receiving the 10 answers, generate a project brief structured into the 12 sections below. Do not withhold the brief pending clarification. Where an answer is missing or strategically ambiguous, insert the marker [TO CONFIRM]. Populate every section from the answers given, even where partial.

DRAFT PROJECT BRIEF

Client: [Business name from Q1 or "Not yet stated"] Date: [Today's date] Status: Draft pending Phase 2 follow-up

1. Business Overview

Summarise the business name, sector, stage of development, legal structure, location, and team size. Note the founding year or intended launch date. Flag any contradictions (e.g., described as "startup" but has three years of trading history).

2. Problem and Opportunity

State the market gap or problem being addressed, who is experiencing it, and the client's evidence or insight behind the opportunity. Include the "why now" reasoning if provided. Mark any claim that appears unsupported with [TO CONFIRM evidence basis].

3. Product or Service Description

Describe the offering in plain language, including its stage of development (idea / prototype / MVP / trading), key features, and how it works for the customer. Note if no clear differentiation has been stated.

4. Target Market

Identify the primary customer segments, geographic scope, B2B or B2C orientation, and any market-size figures provided. If no market size was stated, insert [TO CONFIRM market size estimate needed].

5. Revenue Model and Sales Channels

State the pricing model, sales channels, transaction type (one-off or recurring), and any revenue figures already achieved. If pricing logic is absent, insert [TO CONFIRM pricing rationale].

6. Competitive Landscape and Advantage

Name any competitors mentioned. Summarise the stated competitive advantage. Flag if the client claims no competitors or if the advantage is generic (e.g., "better quality, better service") with [TO CONFIRM specifics required].

7. Team and Credentials

List key individuals, their roles, and relevant experience. Note any team gaps acknowledged by the client. If no team details were given, insert [TO CONFIRM founder/team profiles needed].

8. Financial Position and Funding History

State current revenue (or pre-revenue status), any funding received to date, the amount now being sought, and the intended use of funds. If projections exist, note them. Insert [TO CONFIRM] wherever financial data is absent or internally inconsistent.

9. The Ask Document Type, Audience, and Deadline

State the specific document required, who the primary reader is, the submission deadline, and any format requirements. If the audience is unclear, insert [TO CONFIRM primary decision-maker and their evaluation criteria].

10. Constraints, Sensitivities, and Special Requirements

Record any regulatory context, previous failed funding attempts, approval requirements, confidentiality restrictions, or other special circumstances disclosed by the client.

11. Consultant Assessment

Apply consultant judgement to the answers provided. Note:

  • Gaps critical information that is absent entirely
  • Contradictions statements that conflict with each other (e.g., claims market leadership but cannot name competitors)
  • Risks assumptions that appear optimistic, unvalidated, or likely to be challenged by a funder
  • Scope concerns whether the requested document type matches the stage and quality of available information

This section is for internal use and informs Phase 2 question selection.

12. Recommended Next Steps

State which downstream skills are ready to engage and in what order, based on the information available. Example:

  • If a full business plan is requested: begin with 01-executive-summary, then proceed sequentially. Run meta-bankability-scoring before finalising 11-funding-request.
  • If a bank loan proposal is the primary document: prioritise 10-financial-projections, 11-funding-request, and 12-risk-analysis first.
  • If a grant application: begin with 11b-grant-proposal and cross-reference 13-implementation-timeline.
  • If significant gaps remain: complete Phase 2 before engaging any section skill.

Phase 2 Targeted Follow-Up Questions

Analyse the draft brief and generate 57 follow-up questions. These are not standard questions write them specifically for this client's answers. Do not use generic or templated language.

Prioritise follow-up on:

  1. Anything that would change the document type, scope, or angle if answered differently
  2. Missing financial data that makes any projection or funding ask unworkable
  3. Contradictions in the answers (e.g., a startup claiming no competitors; a large ask with no evidence base)
  4. Unclear audience who exactly will read the document and what they need to believe
  5. Regulatory or sector-specific issues the client may not have flagged
  6. Team gaps or governance concerns that a funder would raise immediately
  7. Any [TO CONFIRM] marker in Sections 8 or 9 these are blocking gaps

Format each follow-up question as:

[Domain] Question [N] of [total] [The question, written directly to the client in plain language.] Why we are asking: [One sentence explaining what this unlocks.]

After Phase 2 Answers Are Received

  1. Update the draft project brief replace all [TO CONFIRM] markers with the confirmed information.
  2. Update Section 11 (Consultant Assessment) to reflect the complete picture.
  3. Update Section 12 (Recommended Next Steps) with a confirmed sequence of downstream skills.
  4. State explicitly: "This brief is finalised. It is ready to hand off to the following skills:" then list the specific skills by name.

Dreaming Room Supplement (for early-stage / pre-vision founders)

When Phase 1 answers reveal a founder at the Dream stage where the business idea is not yet fully formed, or where the mission and vision feel vague or generic use these supplementary questions before Phase 2, drawn from Gerber's Dreaming Room process (Gerber, 2008):

  1. *What does the world look like when your business works exactly as you envision 10 years from nowSection *
  2. Who is the one person whose life your business most changesSection Describe them specifically.
  3. *What is broken in this market that your business is determined to fixSection *
  4. *If your business grew to 100 locations, what would be the same in every single oneSection *
  5. *What would be lost in the world if your business did not existSection *
  6. *Are you building this business to create a better job for yourself or to build something that works without youSection *

Diagnostic: Founders who cannot answer Question 4 (what stays the same at scale) are Technicians with an idea, not yet Entrepreneurs with a system. The business plan will need to address this explicitly in the company overview and management sections and the implementation timeline must include a systems-building phase.

See 02-company-overview/references/awakening-entrepreneur-gerber.md for the full Four Dimensions framework and Dream Vision Purpose Mission cascade.

Default Context

Unless the client specifies otherwise:

  • Country context: Uganda / East Africa
  • Currency: UGX (planning rate UGX 3,700 per USD)
  • Regulatory references: URA, KCCA, UNBS, NEMA, Bank of Uganda
  • Financial benchmarks: drawn from 10-financial-projections/references/uganda-tax-framework.md and 04-market-analysis/references/uganda-macro-context-2025.md

If the client specifies a different country, load the relevant country-context/{country}/SKILL.md before generating the brief.

Quality Criteria

A completed Phase 1 brief is acceptable when:

  • All 12 sections are present, even if some contain [TO CONFIRM] markers
  • Section 11 identifies at least one gap, one risk, and one contradiction where they exist
  • Section 12 names specific downstream skills, not generic categories
  • No section has been omitted because an answer was vague partial information is better than a blank section

A completed Phase 2 is acceptable when:

  • Each follow-up question is specific to this client's answers, not generic
  • Each question states clearly why it is being asked
  • The set of 57 questions, if answered, would resolve all remaining [TO CONFIRM] markers in Sections 4, 7, 8, and 9 as a minimum
  • No follow-up question duplicates information already provided in the 10 answers

A finalised brief (post Phase 2) is acceptable when:

  • Zero [TO CONFIRM] markers remain in Sections 8, 9, and 10
  • The Recommended Next Steps section names a specific ordered sequence of skills
  • A downstream skill receiving this brief can begin work without returning to the client for basic information