Graham and Kevin chat about the results from the Business Health Check that Kevin has been running through his company, Appleby Consulting & Coaching, and discover the 5 biggest Business Health Check issues faced by small businesses

The Health Check has been running for a number of months now. We first talked about it way back in episode 28. In the meantime, the results from a good number of businesses have been collected. Kevin has analysed these results and found a number of common themes are emerging. Broadly there are 5 topics that keep repeating, and these 5 things are the commonest things holding most businesses back.

So, what are the biggest business health check issues?

1) Over reliance on the business owner

Without the business owner many businesses will grind to a halt. We discuss the steps you can take to systemise and delegate core tasks so that someone else can do them reliably and consistently. We also discuss a great toll you can use to identify the things that you, the business owner, need to step away from.

2) Sales and marketing aren’t a core competence

Most business owners start a business because they are passionate about something or have deep specialist skills. Often their skill set doesn’t include sales and marketing. We talk about the right way to go about getting professional help with sales and marketing, and the importance of making sure marketing strategy is a subset of business strategy.

3) There’s a problem with the business strategy

The Business Health Check reveals two things about strategy. Many businesses don’t have a business strategy or plan, and don’t have a clear direction. Others might have a great vision, but the gap between vision and reality is so big they don’t know what to do to get to their destination.

4) Good processes and systems are needed

Many Entrepreneurs are fast starters, and they are quick to launch. Often they are away implementing the next idea before the last one is properly bedded down. The systems and processes needed to support a growing business are not put in place and sooner or later this comes back to bite. We discuss the need for a strong foundation if a business wants to scale, and why the first 100 days of scaling a business shouldn’t focus on getting more sales, but rather fix the support systems first.

5) The business owner is worried about cash flow

The commonest theme in the Business Health Check is cashflow. Most business owners worry about whether they have enough cash to meet commitments. There’s plenty you can do about cashflow if its a real business health check issue for you. We discussed these in detail way back in episode 11, managing cashflow with Hayley Chiba.

Not taken the Business Health Check yet? Why not try it out today? Every new insight you can get into your own business has to be worthwhile, especially if you don’t have to pay for it. Go over to www.applebyconsulting.co.uk and give it a try. Find out what your own business health check issues are and start doing something about them today.

The Next 100 Days Podcast is brought to you by Graham Arrowsmith and Kevin Appleby