A 30-minute health check for your small business

General information, not advice. This article is general information for UK small businesses. It is not legal, tax or financial advice. If the check shows a serious problem, such as not being able to pay bills when they fall due, speak to a qualified adviser promptly. Checked October 2026.

Owners spend most of their time inside the business: serving customers, solving problems, covering shifts. It is hard to step back and see the whole picture. A regular health check gives you that view in half an hour. It will not tell you everything, but it will tell you where to look first.

For each of the eight areas below, give yourself a score from 1 (weak) to 5 (strong). Score on evidence, not on feeling: if you do not know the number, score it a 2 and make finding out your first action. Write the scores down so you can compare next quarter.

• Do you know how many weeks of costs your bank balance covers?
• Do you have a forecast for the next 13 weeks?
• How long do customers take to pay you, on average?

Strong: a rolling forecast, a cash buffer you have chosen on purpose, and invoices paid close to terms. Weak: you check the bank balance to decide whether you can pay a bill.

• Do you know the margin on each of your main products or services?
• Has your pricing kept up with your costs this year?

Strong: you can name your most and least profitable services. Weak: you know total sales but not what each service earns.

• What share of customers come back?
• What do your recent reviews say, good and bad?
• How quickly do you deal with complaints?

Strong: you track repeat customers and act on feedback. Weak: you only hear about problems when a bad review appears.

• Are enquiries and bookings rising, flat or falling compared with last year?
• How quickly do you reply to a new enquiry?
• Do you know which channels bring your best customers?

Strong: steady or growing enquiries and fast replies. Weak: you rely on one source of customers and do not know which one.

• Could the business run for two weeks without you?
• Is anyone the only person who knows how to do something important?
• Are people leaving faster than you can train replacements?

Strong: cover for every key task and a team that stays. Weak: everything stops when one person is off.

• Are your main processes written down as simple checklists?
• Do the same mistakes keep happening?
• Which repeated tasks take up the most time each week?

Strong: a new starter can follow your checklists. Weak: the way things are done depends on who is on shift.

• Do you have one list of every filing, payment and renewal deadline?
• Are your VAT, PAYE, Companies House, insurance and data protection duties up to date?

Strong: a calendar with reminders and proof of every filing. Weak: you find out about deadlines from penalty letters.

• How many hours a week are you working, and is that sustainable?
• When did you last take a full week off?
• Do you have someone to talk decisions through with?

Strong: a pace you can keep for years. Weak: the business only works because you are exhausted.

1. Circle your two lowest scores. Ignore the rest for now.
2. For each, write one action you can finish in the next 30 days. Make it small and specific: "build a 13-week forecast" not "sort out cash".
3. Put both actions in your calendar with a date.
4. Repeat the check every quarter and compare the scores.

The aim is not a perfect 40. It is to make sure your weakest area is never so weak that it pulls the others down.

Free business support is available across the UK: the Business Support Service and local growth hubs in England, Business Wales, Find Business Support in Scotland and Invest Northern Ireland. An accountant can help with cash and profit; a solicitor with contracts and premises.

The Business Diagnostic in NAVIZIX is a private check that scores your business across eight areas from the information you have added, shows where the gaps are and suggests what to fix next, rather than a long report. You can run it again later to see what has improved and what is drifting.

• GOV.UK: Business support helplines
• GOV.UK: If you cannot pay your tax bill on time
• GOV.UK: Late commercial payments: charging interest
• U.S. Small Business Administration: Manage your finances