A founder is six months in. The business does two things well, is experimenting with a third, and is not sure which will matter most in a year.
When people ask what she does, she describes all three, hedged, in a way that takes ninety seconds and leaves the listener with nothing they could repeat.
She thinks she is keeping options open. What she is actually doing is making herself unrecommendable, because nobody can refer a business they cannot describe in a sentence.
Script 1: what do you do
One sentence naming who you help and what you do for them. The temptation to add everything else is what destroys the answer.
Script 2: how long have you been going
Answer it plainly. Evasion invites suspicion, and a straightforward answer plus what you have done in that time is stronger than either hedging or padding.
Script 3: who are your clients
Describe the type where you cannot name them. A specific description of the kind of client does almost as much work as a list of names.
Script 4: can I see examples
Show the work, describe the situation and the outcome, with permission handled properly. Substance beats a logo wall for anybody actually paying attention.
Script 5: what do you charge
A clear answer, which is hardest at the start and matters most, as covered in pricing questions when you have no track record.
Script 6: how big is your team
Honestly. Somebody who discovers later that a team of one was described as a we has lost trust that the accurate answer would have kept.
Script 7: what happens if you stop trading
A fair question for a new supplier. Having a plain answer about continuity and handover is more reassuring than pretending the question is odd.
Script 8: do you do this other thing
Say whether you do it today, whether you would take it on, and be willing to say no. The willingness to decline is itself credibility.
Script 9: why should I use you rather than the established option
Name what you actually do differently, in concrete terms. Attention, speed and direct access to the person doing the work are real answers.
Script 10: can you handle our size
Address it directly, with what you would do about capacity. Prospects respect a considered answer and distrust breezy reassurance.
Rule: never overclaim
The single most damaging thing a new business can do, and the temptation is strongest exactly when it matters most, as set out in looking established without overclaiming.
Rule: answer fast, because that is what you have
A new business cannot compete on track record and can absolutely compete on responding within minutes when the established option takes days.
Rule: write the answers down once
Founders improvise these answers differently every time, and consistency is what makes a description repeatable by other people.
Let the answers be ready before somebody asks
An assistant carrying the agreed description, the pricing position, the examples and the honest answers to the awkward questions means a first year business answers consistently and instantly, which is the one advantage it definitely has. The same clarity problem appears in block and building managers answering resident questions, and the longer view in building a chatbot strategy that grows with your business. Start at try, see features, and the sector view sits under startups.