Customers and sales

Start here, because everything else depends on money coming in. Answer these honestly rather than optimistically.

  • Who are my best five customers, and why do they buy from me?
  • Where do my new enquiries come from, and which source gives the best customers?
  • What happens to an enquiry after it arrives, and who follows up?
  • How many customers have stopped buying in the last year, and do I know why?
  • Do I depend on one or two customers for most of my income?

Money and profit

Revenue is not profit, and profit is not cash. These questions check that you can tell the difference.

  • Do I know the margin on each product or service?
  • Is my pricing based on cost and value, or only on what competitors charge?
  • How long do customers take to pay, and how long do I take to pay suppliers?
  • Can I see this month's profit within a week of the month ending?
  • If sales dropped for three months, how long could the business keep going?

Operations and delivery

Good delivery protects your reputation. Poor delivery quietly adds cost through rework, delays and complaints.

  • Is the way we deliver written down, or does it live in people's heads?
  • Where do mistakes, rework or delays happen most often?
  • Do I know our delivery time and quality record, or only how it feels?
  • Which suppliers or tools could stop us if they failed?
  • What are customers complaining about, and is anyone tracking it?

People and team

Your team determines how far the business can grow without you working harder.

  • Does every person know what they are responsible for and how it is measured?
  • Who are my key people, and what happens if one of them leaves?
  • Do new joiners get a proper start, or do they learn by trial and error?
  • How do I give feedback, and how often?
  • Are salaries, roles and appraisals handled in a consistent way?

Direction and the owner role

The last group looks at you and the road ahead. These questions are less about numbers and more about whether the business is being steered or only kept moving.

Many owners find this section the hardest, because the honest answer to the last two questions is often no. That is useful to know. It tells you whether your next step should be building the team, writing down how work is done, or setting a clearer direction.

  • What do I want this business to look like in three years?
  • Which three things matter most this year?
  • How many hours a week do I spend on work only I can do?
  • Could the business run for two weeks without me?
  • When did I last review the numbers with my team?

Write your answers down and mark the questions you could not answer confidently. Pick the two or three that worry you most and start there, rather than trying to fix everything at once. If several areas look unclear, a structured business audit can examine them with data and give you a prioritised list of actions. The value comes from acting on what you find, and results will depend on your situation and follow-through.