Most owners know something could run better but are not sure where to start. This health check asks 18 plain questions about six areas of your business. Each one is about whether you know a number or do a habit that well-run small businesses rely on. Your answers give a score for each area, and the lowest score is where to start.
It takes about five minutes. It does not compare you with other businesses, and it does not estimate what you are "losing". It reflects your own answers, so answer honestly.
Each question scores 2 for "Yes", 1 for "Partly, or not sure" and 0 for "No". Each area has three questions, so scores run from 0 to 6, and the overall score is your total out of 36 as a percentage. Your answers start at "Partly"; change each one to fit your business.
Profitable businesses still fail when cash runs out. Knowing how fast customers pay, invoicing promptly and forecasting the next three months are the basics. See debtor days and the cash conversion cycle.
Price is the strongest lever most small businesses have. You need to know the full cost of what you sell, including overheads, and the margin on each type of work. See true cost per job, margin vs markup and the price increase calculator.
Staff are usually the biggest controllable cost. Know what each working hour really costs and how many paid hours are charged. See true cost of an employee, utilisation and staff turnover cost.
Written procedures, a record of mistakes and knowing your bottleneck are the foundations of a business that runs without the owner in every decision. See writing an SOP, Pareto analysis and the theory of constraints.
Many businesses spend on marketing while losing quotes they could have won. Tracking conversion and following up are free. See quote conversion.
Recurring costs creep up unnoticed, and a business without a monthly profit figure is steering by its bank balance. See zero-based budgeting and the break-even calculator.
Pick your lowest area and the first question in it you answered "No". Fix that one thing this month, then retake the check in three months. For your trade's cost figures, see the industry cost benchmarks.
If you would rather have an independent review of your own figures, that is what the Diagnostic Assessment is for.
Free Excel templates for time studies, debtor days and staff costs. Enter your email once and download them all.
Get the Free Templates →Want an independent view of your own numbers? See the Diagnostic Assessment.