Five questions

The organising set of questions every business analysis answers: what the business does, whether it is any good, what could go wrong, what it is worth, and what to do about it.

Their value is that they impose an order. Valuation comes fourth, not first, and a great deal of amateur analysis begins and ends at a multiple.

The sequence also matches how conviction is built. Understanding precedes judgement, judgement precedes valuation, and valuation precedes action.

Answer them in order. The order is the method.