AU714855B2 - Business assistance method and means - Google Patents

Description

WO 98/20438 PCT/AU97/00744 1 BUSINESS ASSISTANCE METHOD AND MEANS.

TECHNICAL FIELD This invention relates to a method and means to assist those who require assistance in relation to the running of a business.

BACKGROUND ART It is well know currently for a business person who is seeking help, to consult a professional adviser who will then proceed on the basis of information supplied by the business person, to offer advice.

It is also known for consultants to provide a business person with a form which will trigger responses from the business person. For instance, there might be a suggestion for the business person to put down his five most important business goals and how he is going to achieve such goals and likewise in respect of personal goals and what action is going to be taken to achieve those goals.

At the completion of this procedure, the business person will have proceeded through a relatively simple program which will simply have the result that the business person will have clarified their thinking regarding their own goals and possible set some action agendas for themselves.

It is a much better procedure if the business person could be prompted by a consultant to consider each of a number of different possibilities and even be assisted in considering actions.

The problem however is that, while consultants do try to offer a number of prompts to clients, this is firstly a very time consuming process and secondly, it is very difficult to achieve without a great deal of time being taken and therefore costs incurred in respect of both the business person and the consultants time, and finally, in any analysis the production of results and providing feedback is again extremely arduous and while perhaps not impossible, taking such a time that it appears never to have been previously considered.

SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26) WO 98/20438 PCT/AU97/00744 2 DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION According to this invention, there is proposed a method which is effected through a computer, so that, while a large number of questions can be prepared, only those in selected categories need be addressed by a user.

However, the method proposes that for each of a selected question, there can be available to the user an agreement or a denial in the form of a selection of simply a yes or no, and depending upon the nature of the question, in respect of at least one of these responses, an action suggestion which can then be agreed to by the user by selection of one of a plurality of degrees of importance.

Once the degree of importance has been selected, the program can proceed to a next question or it can invite the user to select a next question, or allow the user to proceed to other alternatives.

The significant advantage of this arrangement is that firstly, the user is invited to contemplate any question for as long or as little time as he requires, but more importantly, for any answer that would require an appropriate action to be considered, there is then the option of the selection of degree of importance.

In respect of the computer program, there are then means to store such selections and then by tabling selections in selected orders, further input can be made in respect of such actions.

For instance, all of the actions which have been considered as most important can then be listed and for each of these, an input invited as to when such action should be initiated or concluded, and who will be responsible for proceeding with such action.

We now can use the power of conventional computer programs as they are currently developed and we can put together lists which can separately list all of the actions that are considered to be most important and for whom a first person is to be responsible and we can then put together a time line suggesting the time available for each action to be initiated and concluded.

SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26) WO 98/20438 PCT/AU97/00744 3 In one possible form of this invention there is proposed a needs analysis computer system included a program providing for a plurality of main questions relating to potential needs of a user, each of the questions being answerable by an affirmation or denial by selection in respect of the program and in response as appropriate to an affirmation or denial, a suggested action and means to select a degree of importance to the user in carrying out the action which selections are then kept in memory by the program with respect to that user and subsequent to a plurality of such questions being addressed, means to effect an output where actions appropriate to the selections and selected to whatever degree of importance is considered appropriate by the user.

One of the significant advantages of this arrangement is that the user is confronted when there is an observed need following an appropriate response to a question, with the requirement that a degree of importance must be selected in respect to that action.

This has the significant value of having caused the user to contemplate the relevance of the suggested action not only in respect of his immediate business needs but also in comparison to other business needs that he has previously selected with other degrees of importance.

A number of preferably options become available using these preliminary features.

In preference, at the beginning of the use of the program by a user, apart from identifying the user and perhaps taking certain business information details, there is provided a selection so that any one or more of these can be selected by the user for the subsequent questioning and responses.

If for instance there might be two hundred questions available in the computer system, these can be separately divided out into perhaps lots of twenty or thirty questions applicable to one category as compared to others.

This being said however, once one or more categories is selected the software is then arranged so that it will provide in sequence a plurality of questions being provided one at a time to the user on the visual display screen of the computer so that there can be an agreement or denial in SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26) WO 98/20438 PCT/AU97/00744 4 response to a question.

Once a selection of either affirmation or denial has been made and this can be achieved either by locating a marker on the video screen in alignment with an appropriate button and a signal being input into the computer either by an appropriate keyed input from a keyboard or from a mouse, then where that answer then requires some action, a suggested action will then be made available to the computer and there will be available means to allow the user to input either by means of selection of appropriate buttons on the screen or by prompted input from the keyboard, a degree of importance that should be placed by the user when carrying out that particular action.

In preference, there are at least five degrees of importance and these can be identified in any order and with any appropriate identification but in one typical arrangement includes statements from "Not important", "Not very important", "important", "Very important" and "Extremely important".

It will be understood that these are only indications and can be identified as degrees of importance ranging from 1 being not important to 5 being extremely important.

Five selectable degrees of importance have been chosen as being a reasonable spread, but in preference there could be merely three degrees of importance and of course four degrees of importance, or even six or more degrees of importance.

Once the degree of importance have been chosen, the computer can be in preference allowed to keep the selection appearing on the screen for as long as long as the user wishes, and a next question might then only appear on selection of "A next" button.

An alternate preferred arrangement includes the arrangement where upon selection of the degree of importance, the program then stores that information preparatory to a final selection whereupon further programming is available to select for each of a selected degree of importance questions, the person for whom the action is to be addressed or by whom it is to be achieved, and in preference a time by which the action is either to be commenced or to be addressed.

SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26) WO 98/20438 PCT/AU97/00744 Further to this, there can be provided by the program a report which by being triggered in respect of an extremely important selection to a particular action statement can then provide a user with recommendations which are tailored to the users perceived requirements of the user themselves, and such a report can then elaborate extensively on a particular identified extremely important need in such a way that the user sees this only as a personalised advice.

The concept can be applied to a number of differing areas and while a description such as "a business needs analysis" can be applicable, it immediately provides for consultants a very powerful tool indeed to extensively assists clients.

BEST MODE OF THE INVENTION For a better understanding of the invention it will be described in relation to a specific embodiment but it is not intended that the invention should be necessarily limited to any specific statement made herein or any of the specific details at least in so far that the broader concept of the invention is conceived.

As an example then of an approach that has been found at this stage to be preferable, there is provided a computer program that runs on a computer which can provide interactive assistance to users and which is directed to a "business needs analysis".

Upon opening the program, there is then provided ten general options these being: 1. Asset protection.

2. Business planning.

3. Business systems.

4. Estate planning.

Human resources.

6. Management control.

7. Marketing.

8. Personal asset growth.

9. Profit improvement planing.

Risk management.

SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26) WO 98/20438 PCT/AU97/00744 6 For each of these, there are a plurality of questions available with their appropriate action statements but by selecting for instance asset protection the program will then proceed to a first question "I have given personal guarantees to banks in support of loans/overdrafts and would like to understand what would happen if my business failed".

There is then made available the option of either clicking through a mouse connection on the computer screen a yes to this question or no.

If yes is selected then there becomes available an action suggestion which is to obtain advice about the effect of my person guarantees should my business fail.

There is then below this five degrees of importance listed under importance as: 1. Very low.

2. Low.

3. Medium 4. High.

Very high.

There are in addition on the program, further selections such as a selection so that the user can proceed to a next unanswered question or they can proceed through further questions that they may previously have answered but want to reconsider. These are achieved either by clicking a next or back type button.

By clicking on the "Next" button a next question is "I would like to understand the ramifications of my guarantees were I to die prematurely or become totally disabled".

By selection of "Yes" from the options of either yes or no an action is proposed which is "Document or guarantees I have signed and develop an asset protection strategy".

Again the degrees of importance are provided which are from "1 Very Low to Very High".

SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26) WO 98/20438 PCT/AU97/0044.

7 The next question chosen by clicking the "Next" button is "I would like to be invited to an asset protection seminar in the near future".

If an answer to this is "Yes" an action suggestion is that the user seek an invitation to a Perks Asset Protection Seminar. Again the importance of this to the user is selected and in this particular case a medium importance is chosen.

By proceeding though all of the questions and responding as appropriate to actions, the user will then have categorised preferences in relation to a searching extensive range of business needs in relation to this category.

The program then offers a selection of the actions chosen and can provide these in level of importance order and can provide that these can be stepped through so as to allocate for each of these, by whom the action is to be pursued and when.

The program can also provide the number of actions put in the very important degree of importance category or any group of degree of importance selections.

There can now be provided a full list of suggested strategies in the most important categories or as required, this list can be modified, reduced or expanded as appropriate.

More to the point however, the program can be revisited by a user on a regular basis to reconsider the business needs firstly without incurring the high costs of a consultant on each occasion but the program can also be used by a consultant to provide ongoing relevant and cost effective advice to a client.

One significant application that is presently being considered is for a consultant to provide access to the program for each of selected clients who will pay a fee for such access.

Upon the user proceeding though any or all of the selected categories, the consultant then uses the computer to generate reports based upon this material and by providing a review of the results can provide to the client SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26) WO 98/20438 PCT/AU97/00744 8 significant reports suggested upon the clients own considered degrees of importance, the importance of particular strategies.

The program can then be used to generate activity for consultants who can then, without incurring the very high costs of considering in a proactive way suggestions with a client on a one to one basis off a previously prepared literature tailored for the selections made so that the client then seeks the specialist advice from the consultant on the specific action or actions selected.

The invention can reside in a computer programmed to effect the steps as suggested above or it can rely upon a method of providing assistance in respect of a needs analysis for a user where there are provided through a computer program in a computer, the steps of providing on a sequential and one by one basis each of a plurality of selected main questions relating to needs, and providing for an input from a user answering either in the affirmative or in the negative, then for at least some of the answers to questions, providing an action proposal and then an availability of selection by the user of a degree of importance to the user of this action suggestion, and then, upon such selection of a degree of importance being made for each of the action suggestions, allocating advice steps contained within the program which are associated and follow from the suggested action to an action agenda chosen from and set out in accord with a selected degree of importance and then providing appropriate output from these selections.

SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26)

Claims (15)

1. A needs analysis computer system including; a program providing for a plurality of questions relating to potential needs of a user; each of the questions being answerable by an affirmation or denial by selection in respect of the program; said program providing, in response as appropriate to an affirmation or denial, a suggested action and means to select a degree of importance to the user in carrying out the suggested action; said selections being kept in a memory by the program with respect to that user and subsequent to a plurality of questions being addressed, means to effect an output of proposed actions appropriate to the selections and degree of importance considered appropriate by the user.

2. A needs analysis computer system as in claim 1 wherein at the beginning of the use of the program by the user, apart from identifying the user and perhaps taking certain business information details, there is provided a selection so that any one or more of these can be selected by the user for subsequent questioning and responses.

3. A needs analysis computer system as in either one of claim 1 or 2 wherein said questions are adapted to be separately divided into different categories that may be selected by the user.

4. A needs analysis computer system as in any one of the above claims wherein the program is adapted to provide, in sequence, the plurality of questions one at a time to the user on a visual display screen of the computer so that there can be an agreement or denial in response to any one question. A needs analysis computer system as in claim 4 wherein the selection of either affirmation or denial is achieved by locating a marker on the visual display screen in alignment with an appropriate button on said screen and a signal being input into the computer by an appropriate input from a computer mouse effecting control over said marker. SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26) WO 98/20438 PCT/AU97/00744

6. A needs analysis computer system as in claim 4 wherein the selection of either affirmation or denial is achieved by an input from a keyboard effecting a signal into the computer.

7. A needs analysis computer system as in any one of claims 5 to 6 wherein when the signal input into the computer in response to a question requires an action, a suggested action will then be made available to the user andthere will be available means to allow the user to input either by means of selection of appropriate buttons on the screen or by prompting an input from the keyboard, a degree of importance that should be placed by the user when carrying out that particular action.

8. A needs analysis computer system as in claim 7 wherein there are five degrees of importance identified in any order and with any appropriate identification.

9. A needs analysis computer system as in claim 8 wherein the five degrees of importance are listed as "Not important", "Not very important", "Important", "Very important" and "Extremely important". A needs analysis computer system as in claim 7 wherein there are at least two degrees of importance.

11. A needs analysis computer system as in any one of claim 7 to 10 wherein once the degree of importance in relation to an action has been selected by the user, the program displays that selection on the visual display screen until the next question is requested by the user.

12. A needs analysis computer system as in claim 11 wherein the next question is not displayed until prompted by the user.

13. A needs analysis computer system as in any one of claim 7 to 12 wherein upon selection of the degree of importance by the user, the program then stores that information preparatory to a final selection whereupon further programming is available to select for each of a selected degree of importance further questions. SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26) WO 98/20438 PCT/AU97/00744. 11

14. A needs analysis computer system as in claim 13 wherein said program may further include questions to enable the user to select a person for whom the action is to be addressed or by whom it is to be achieved, and in preference a time by which the action is either to be commenced or to be addressed. A needs analysis computer system as in any one claims 2 to 14 wherein the program provides a report which by being triggered in respect of a selection determined as being particularly relevant to a particular action statement provides the user with recommendations which are tailored to the users perceived requirements of the user themselves, and such a report can then elaborate extensively on a particular identified extremely important need in such a way that the user sees this only as a personalised advice.

16. A needs analysis computer system as in any one of the above claims wherein a particular selection prompts the computer to provide a unique set of questions to the user.

17. A needs analysis computer system including; a processor means adapted to run a program; a memory means adapted to store said program, said program providing for a plurality of main questions relating to potential needs of a user, said questions adapted to be displayed on a visual display screen and wherein said program is further adapted to provide for the identification of a particular user; each of the questions being answerable by an affirmation or denial by the user; said program providing, in response as appropriate to an affirmation or denial, a suggested action and means to select a degree of importance to the user in carrying out the suggested action; said selections being kept in the memory means with respect to that particular user and subsequent to a plurality of such questions being addressed, an output means to provide the user with a report as to the most appropriate actions in response to the users selection to the questions and their degree of importance as determined by the user. SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26) WO 98/20438 PCT/AU97/00744 12

18. A method of providing assistance in respect of a needs analysis for a user where there are provided through a computer program in a computer, the steps of; providing on a sequential and one by one basis each of a plurality of selected main questions relating to needs, and providing for an input from a user answering either in the affirmative or in the negative; then for at least some of the answers to questions, providing an action proposal and then an availability of selection by the user of a degree of importance to the user of this action suggestion; and upon such selection of a degree of importance being made for each of the action suggestions, allocating advice steps contained within the program which are associated and follow from the suggested action to an action agenda chosen from and set out in accord with a selected degree of importance and then providing appropriate output from these selections. SUBSTITUTE SHEET (RULE 26)