TOUGH TIMES AHEAD
BUSINESS HEALTHCHECKER

How well are you keeping up with the downturn in the economy?

Use our checklist below to help highlight important areas in your business that need your immediate attention.

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* Name:    *Business Name:

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		We are on top of this	We could use some help with this
	Review your budgets and set realistic and achievable targets for 2009.	Yes No	Yes No
	Get rid of "can't pay / won't pay" customers.	Yes No	Yes No
	Review debtors list and chase up overdue invoices.	Yes No	Yes No
	Offer existing debtors extended payment terms and/or discounts to settle.	Yes No	Yes No
	Make sure your terms of business contain explicit payment terms.	Yes No	Yes No
	Assign responsibility to one individual for invoicing and collections.	Yes No	Yes No
	Agree extended payment terms with all suppliers (in advance if appropriate).	Yes No	Yes No
	Review the possibility of forming relationships with new suppliers as, bearing in mind the weakening economy, most companies are more competitive.	Yes No	Yes No
	Prepare cash flow and profit and loss account forecasts and assess the implications of these and whether any more resource will be required to meet targets.	Yes No	Yes No
	If appropriate, review banking facilities and discuss future needs.	Yes No	Yes No
	Put extra effort into making sure your relationships with your better customers and key suppliers are solid.	Yes No	Yes No
	Review and flow chart the main processes in your business (e.g. Sales processing, order fulfilment, shipping etc) and challenge the need for each step.	Yes No	Yes No
	Encourage team members to streamline and simplify processes (e.g. sit down and brainstorm about efficiencies and cost reduction).	Yes No	Yes No
	Use "bottom up" budgeting where everyone in the office gives input on areas over which they are in control - target a 10% cost saving.	Yes No	Yes No
	Review your staffing needs over the next 12 months and make weak or unnecessary individuals redundant now.	Yes No	Yes No
	Get your members of staff involved in a discussion of likely trading conditions and get their input on reducing costs and maintaining revenues.	Yes No	Yes No
	Review your list of products and services and eliminate those that are unprofitable or not core products/services.	Yes No	Yes No
	Establish your key performance indicators (KPI's) and measure them on a daily basis e.g.	Yes No	Yes No
	Sales leads generated per sales employee   Lead conversion ratios   Orders supplied   Cash balance   Debtor days   Gross profit per product   Net profit per product
	Review efficiency of business processes and consider alternatives such as outsourcing certain activities locally or overseas.	Yes No	Yes No
	Pull everyone together and explain the business strategy and get their buy-in.	Yes No	Yes No

Dealings with some of our clients lately has shown us that INVESTING just a little QUALITY TIME thinking about YOUR BUSINESS and its NEEDS, as opposed to being IMMERSED IN THE DETAIL, has a HUGE EFFECT. We are EXPERTS at helping BUSINESS OWNERS get the most out of their thoughts. It is ALWAYS productive to share IDEAS AND CONCERNS especially in these tougher trading times.

WE ARE ALWAYS AVAILABLE TO HELP YOU GET THROUGH THIS DOWNTURN AND EMERGE OUT THE OTHER SIDE AS A STRONGER AND MORE RESILIENT BUSINESS.