Sometimes in business, things go wrong. It could be that you run low on inventory, on customers, or even on capital; there is rarely a shortage of problems that can occur. The key is to address the problems with a framework that allows you to evaluate the problem and come up with solutions.

Within the IT realm, the vendor-neutral organization CompTIA has such a framework for troubleshooting computer-related problems that can be modified to fit the business world as well. Stripping it of all technology-specific topics, the seven-step framework becomes: