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...continues from front page Printed by Park Communications 2016 Annual (illustration brief 1)sources. on paper from sustainable
© Energy Systems Catapult 2017 Illustration by Michelle Thompson Design by Apropos
Printed by Park Communications on paper from sustainable sources.
© Energy Systems Catapult 2017 Illustration by Michelle Thompson Design by Apropos
Printed by Park Communications on paper from sustainable sources.
© Energy Systems Catapult 2017 Illustration by Michelle Thompson Design by Apropos
Printed by Park Communications on paper from sustainable sources.
© Energy Systems Catapult 2017 Illustration by Michelle Thompson Design by Apropos
Printed by Park Communications on paper from sustainable sources.
© Energy Systems Catapult 2017 Illustration by Michelle Thompson Design by Apropos
Printed by Park Communications on paper from sustainable sources.
Business health check: introduction
About this health check Before you can plan ahead and make decisions about your future, you must have an understanding of your current business performance. Using this health check tool will give you an insight into the strengths and weaknesses of your business, higlighting areas where you excel and flagging any issues or uncertainties. It will also give you a deeper understanding of the different areas of your business and how they fit together. After going through this process, you’ll be ready to put together a business plan for the future, armed with all of the right knowledge.
What you need to do The health check is an easy to use self-assessment tool and will help you to evaluate different areas of your business in a systematic way. It is comprised of a series of canvasses with questions for you to work through. Completing the entire health check might take some time - but the longer you spend on this process, the better the outcomes. We suggest that you aim to complete the health check over a number of days, tackling individual sections one at a time. You will need input from your colleagues and senior members of your business.
2
Visions, values and goals
What will your organisation be like in five years time?
Business health check - Vision, values and goals
Vision
4
What plans are in place to ensure your organisation gets to where you want it to be?
Business health check - Vision, values and goals
Vision
5
Have these plans been shared with the staff within your organisation?
Business healthc heck - Vision, values and goals
Vision
6
What core values are important to you and your customers?
Business healthc heck - Vision, values and goals
Values
7
What is your unique selling point?
Business health check - Vision, values and goals
Values
8
What are your values as an organisation?
What is: Always important Sometimes important Rarely important Never important
Business health check - Vision, values and goals
Values
9
How do you achieve your goals?
Business healthcheck - Vision, Values and Goals
Goals
10
What has been your greatest achievement over the past five years?
Business health check - Vision, values and goals
Goals
11
What are your strengths and weaknesses as a business? What threats do you face as a business? What are the opportunities available to you and your business?
Business health check - Vision, values and goals
Goals
12
To what extent have your achievements enabled you to meet your aspirations?
Business health check - Vision, values and goals
Goals
13
Business health check - Vision, values and goals
Notes and actions
14
External considerations
What is the short-term and long-term economic outlook for your business?
Business health check - External considerations
Economy
16
What impact would a change in the economy have on your organisation at a local, regional, national and global level?
Business healthcheck - External considerations
Economy
17
Are you aware of any government policy changes that could have an impact on your business? For example - changes in innovation funding?
Business health check - External considerations
Policy
18
Are there any social changes that could have an impact on your business? For example - cultural trends, population shift?
Business health check - External considerations
Society
19
What are the main challenges or changes facing the industry you work in?
Business health check - External considerations
Society
20
Who are your competitors?
Business health check - External considerations
Competitors
What do you know about them?
21
What do they sell?
Business health check - External considerations
Competitors
How big are their organisations?
22
How do their products differ from yours?
Business health check - External considerations
Competitors
What are their main strengths and weaknesses as businesses?
23
Will you have new competitors in 12-18 months time?
Business health check - External considerations
Competitors
24
Is there any upcoming legislation that will affect your business?
Business health check - External considerations
Legislation
25
What processes do you have in place to keep up to date with changes in legislation?
Business health check - External considerations
Legislation
26
What impact will changes to the environment have on your business? For example - changes in climate or changes in geography?
Business health check - External considerations
Environmental
Do you monitor your environmental impact?
27
Will changes in technology affect your business? For example - automation or R&D?
Business health check - External considerations
Technological
28
Business health check - External considerations
Notes and actions
29
Customers 30
What do you know about your existing customers?
Business health check - Customers
Existing customers
Who are your most important customers?
31
From which group of customers do you receive the most income?
Business health check - Customers
Existing customers
Which group of customers gets the most value from your business?
32
What growth/decline in customers numbers have you experienced?
Business health check - Customers
Existing customers
How do you communicate with your customers and which communication channels are most effective?
33
What prompts your customers to buy your products/services?
Business health check - Customers
Existing customers
Do you have an established process for gathering customer feedback?
34
Which factors influence your customers to buy products/services from you?
Business health check - Customers
Existing customers
35
Who would you like to sell your products/services to?
Business health check - Customers
Potential customers
How do you communicate with potential customers?
36
What success have you had with attempting to reach new customers?
Business health check - Customers
Potential customers
Could your communication with new customers be improved?
37
What customer-related market trends have you identified?
Business health check - Customers
Potential customers
What are the needs of your customers and your potential customers?
38
What is the size of the market/sector you wish to enter?
Business health check - Customers
Potential customers
39
Business health check - Customers
Notes and actions
40
Collaboration and partnerships 41
Do you regularly seek opportunities to work in partnership with others?
Business health check - Collaboration and partnerships
Partnerships
Who do you collaborate with?
42
Have you found the right mix of partners to collaborate with? And do they have the right skills?
Business health check - Collaboration and partnerships
Partnerships
Do the collaborative partners you work with mirror your organisational culture?
43
Have the arrangements you have with partners been documented and formalised? And have you considered elements such as intellectual property?
Business health check - Collaboration and partnerships
Partnerships
Are there clear outcomes, tasks and milestones for your partnership working?
44
Is it clear who is responsible for delivering specific outcomes when you are working with partners?
Business health check - Collaboration and partnerships
Partnerships
45
Business health check - Collaboration and partnerships
Notes and actions
46
Risk 47
What are your potential risk areas as a business?
Business health check - Risk
Risk Human risk Technological risk Physical risk (e.g. property)
48
How do you identify, assess and monitor potential risks?
Business health check - Risk
Risk
How do you prioritise risks within your business?
49
What steps do you take to plan for potential risks?
Business health check - Risk
Risk
Do you have insurance in place to cover potential risks?
50
Do you have a risk register?
Business health check - Risk
Risk
Is the risk register shared with staff within the organisation?
Are employees and senior management encouraged to review the risk register regularly?
51
Business health check - Risk
Notes and actions
52
Finance 53
Do your patterns of expenditure match your stated ambitions?
Business health check - Finance
Finance
Is your organisation overly reliant on a limited number of income sources?
How reliable are your income sources and which are most at risk?
54
Do you have sufficient cashflow to meet your monthly obligations?
Business health check - Finance
Finance
Is there a need to raise further funds over the next five years?
How will these funds be raised?
55
Do you have a reserves policy?
Business health check - Finance
Finance
Do you have the appropriate knowledge and skills to ensure that you manage your finances effectively?
Do you regularly review your actual income and expenditure against budget?
56
How well do you record the implications of financial performance against budget on cashflow and balance sheets?
Business health check - Finance
Finance
Do you have a pricing strategy?
Have you borrowed money or received an investment from external sources? For example - via a loan or overdraft, seed money or VC/PE funding?
57
What are the obligations attached to these types of borrowing/investment?
Business health check - Finance
Finance
Have you received any grants or competition funds from external organisations? For example - via DECC, Innovate UK, Horizon 2020?
What are the KPIs associated with the funding you have received?
58
Business health check - Finance
Notes and actions
59
Commercial 60
What is your product/service?
Business health check - Commercial
Commercial
Are there plans to diversify your offering?
61
What is your business model? Licence technology or intellectual property Product manufacturing Provision of services Value added distribution
Business health check - Commercial
Commercial
62
What agreements do you have in place to enable your organisation to carry out its commercial plan?
Business health check - Commercial
Commercial
63
Business health check - Commercial
Notes and actions
64
Resources and skills 65
Do you have the right mix of skills and experience for your business needs - now and in the future?
Business health check - Resources and skills
People
Are roles, responsibilities, objectives and measures aligned to your business plan?
66
Do you use any external resources to support your organisation?
Business health check - Resources and skills
People
Would there be a risk to the business if a key member of staff was to leave?
67
How well does your organisation location meet your needs? And do you have the right facilities?
Business health check - Resources and skills
Facilities
Are your facilities in a good state of repair?
Do you have a clear plan and associated funds to maintain/repair/replace these facilities?
68
What are the key pieces of equipment you need to ensure your organisation is able to function?
Business health check - Resources and skills
Equipment
Does your organisation have the appropriate equipment and assets required for future development?
69
Business health check - Resources and skills
Notes and actions
70
Organisational Structure 71
How is your organisation structured? For example - is it a Company Limited by Shares, Company Limited by Guarantee, sole trader, partnership or LLP?
Business health check - Organisational structure
Structure
What are the benefits of structuring the organisation in this way?
Who are the owners?
72
What are the owners’ aspirations for the business over the next five years?
Business health check - Organisational structure
Structure
Who are the directors?
Is there an appropriate mix of skills at director level?
73
Does the organisation have any non-executive directors?
Business health check - Organisational structure
Structure
Who has influence and control over the organisation?
Does the current governance and ownership of the business allow for future development?
74
Business health check - Organisational structure
Notes and actions
75
Operations and logistics 76
If you are making your product - how long does the manufacturing process take?
Business health check - Operations and logistics
Production
If you are buying your product - how long does delivery take?
Do you have a minimum order level?
77
Do customers have to pay for your product/service upfront?
Business health check - Operations and logistics
Production
How much stock do you need to order to keep up with current demand?
78
How long will it take to deliver your product/service to your customers and how will it be delivered?
Business health check - Operations and logistics
Delivery to customers
Is the cost of delivery included in the cost of the product - or do you charge customers extra to cover this cost?
79
When do your customers pay you?
Business health check - Operations and logistics
Payment
Do your customers pay a deposit?
Who looks at your books and accounts?
80
Who are your chosen suppliers?
Business health check - Operations and logistics
Suppliers
When do you pay them?
Do you routinely get quotes from other potential suppliers?
81
How do you get your product to your customers?
Business health check - Operations and logistics
Transport
How do you visit clients?
82
What insurance does your organisation have? Public Liability Contents Professional Indemnity Property Insurance Employers’ Liability Product Liability
Business health check - Operations and logistics
Insurance
83
Business health check - Operations and logistics
Notes and actions
84
Marketing and Communications 85
Do you have a marketing and communications strategy in place?
Business health check - Marketing and communications
Marketing and communications
Do you have an internal communications plan?
Do you have your own marketing and communications department or do you outsource this work to another team?
86
Do you use external organisations to support your marketing activity? For example - graphic designers or web developers?
Business health check - Marketing and communications
Marketing and communications
Do you have a social media and digital policy?
87
What communications tools and resources do you require – both internally and externally?
Business health check - Marketing and communications
Marketing and communications
88
How do you implement your marketing and who is responsible for it? (You will need to think about: resource, testing, strategy)
Business healthcheck - Marketing and communications
Marketing and communications
89
How do you measure the impact of your marketing? (You will need to think about: KPIs, budget control, metrics, cost of customer acquisition)
Business health check - Marketing and communications
Marketing and communications
90
Business health check - Operations and logistics
Notes and actions
91
Intellectual property 92
What Intellectual Property (IP) does your organisation have in place? Copyright (Writing and literary works, art, photography, films, TV, music, web, content, sound recordings) Design Rights (Shapes of objects)
Business health check - Intellectual Property
Intellectual Property
Trademarks (Product names, logos, jingles) Registered Designs (Appearance of a product including shape, packaging, patterns, colours, decoration) Patents (Inventions and products e.g. machines and machine parts and tools)
93
Who owns that IP?
Business health check - Intellectual Property
Intellectual Property
If you don’t own it - what terms are in place so you can use the IP?
94
What would happen to your product/service if you no longer had the ability to use the IP?
Business health check - Intellectual Property
Intellectual Property
Are there agreements in place that may prejudice the organisation’s ownership of IP?
95
Has the organisation signed any Non Disclosure Agreements or Confidentiality Agreements?
Business health check - Intellectual Property
Intellectual Property
Does your organisation have appropriate clauses and confidentiality provisions in its agreements with employees and contractors to ensure that you retain ownership of the IP?
96
Business health check - Intellectual Property
Notes and actions
97
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Follow us: es.catapult.org.uk system - grid version? @EnergySysCat
...continues from front page Printed by Park Communications 2016 Annual (illustration brief 1)sources. on paper from sustainable
© Energy Systems Catapult 2017 Illustration by Michelle Thompson Design by Apropos
Printed by Park Communications on paper from sustainable sources.
© Energy Systems Catapult 2017 Illustration by Michelle Thompson Design by Apropos
Printed by Park Communications on paper from sustainable sources.
© Energy Systems Catapult 2017 Illustration by Michelle Thompson Design by Apropos
Printed by Park Communications on paper from sustainable sources.
© Energy Systems Catapult 2017 Illustration by Michelle Thompson Design by Apropos
Printed by Park Communications on paper from sustainable sources.
© Energy Systems Catapult 2017 Illustration by Michelle Thompson Design by Apropos
Printed by Park Communications on paper from sustainable sources.