Small Business Checkup Home

The Small Business Checkup
Four Steps to Improving Your Business Performance

HOW DO I USE IT?

The Small Business Check-up uses a four-step process to assist you in developing an action plan to improve your business.  Each step is accessible from the Main Menu.  In Step 1, you will answer a series of questions about yourself and your business.  In Step 2, you will compare your responses to those of a sample of other small business owners and managers.  In Step 3, the Check-up provides feedback that will help you identify potential opportunities for improvement.  Once you’ve defined your priorities, Step 4 will help you develop strategies and an action plan.

A more detailed description of each step is provided below. 

Step 1: Complete the Questionnaire

In Step 1, you will answer a series of multiple-choice questions about your business, background, objectives, skills, and management practices.  There are approximately 150 questions in total, divided into 13 sections.  Each section follows a similar question format.  While you only have to answer the questions that you feel are relevant to your situation, you can anticipate that this step will take about 30 minutes to complete.  You don't have to finish Step 1 in one session - with the username and password you select, you can access your file anytime.    

Step 2: Compare Your Responses

Our users tell us that they want to find out how other managers answered the questions in Step 1.  How do your answers compare?  In Step 2, we report the answers you provided and what the typical manager said for those same questions.

Step 3: Identify Opportunities for Improvement

The key to success in business is taking action.  We won't consider this program to be successful unless it enables you to identify some changes that you want to make and actually encourages you to make those changes.   Your challenge in Step 3 is to define perhaps three or four specific areas that you want to target for improvement.   Should you prepare a business plan, revise your marketing plan, adopt an inventory or quality control system,  or provide training for your staff?

We can’t decide that for you - only you can define priorities that are appropriate for you and your business.  However, we help you identify possible opportunities for improvement by grouping your responses, highlighting some of the possible implications, attaching priority ratings to your responses, and linking you to information sheets that further discuss key issues. 
Grouping Responses
Your answers are grouped into six topics reflecting key functions within a business including: Marketing; Production and Operations Management; Human Resources; Accounting, Finance and Information Management; Technology & Innovation; and Management, Leadership and Strategic Direction.  In turn, each topic is divided into a series of sub-topics.  This structure provides a framework that will enable you to review the various aspects of your business and identify key patterns.  Also be sure to look for possible inconsistencies in your responses.  For example, you may have noted that the abilities of your staff are a key competitive variable for your business and that increasing staff productivity is a high priority but not provide training, staff evaluations, or a pay system that stimulates and rewards higher productivity.  These patterns will help you narrow down which areas you should focus on.
Highlighting Possible Implications
In Step 3, we provide feedback that varies depending upon the responses that you provided.  For each question, we try to highlight some of the possible implications of your response.  For example, the text may highlight the benefits of (and describe what’s involved in) specific management practices such as preparing a business plan, conducting credit assessments, or conducting staff evaluations.  Reviewing this feedback by topic and sub-topic will help you in prioritizing what specific aspects of your business you would like to improve first.
Attaching Priority Ratings
The Small Business Check-up attaches priority ratings to each of your responses.  These are not grades - this isn't a school program.  Rather, we use the rating system to highlight:
  • Variables, issues or problem areas that you identified as being important; and/or
  • Management practices that you are not currently be employing.  
Higher ratings flag areas that you might want to review first.  Higher figures do not necessarily mean that action is required - lower figures do not necessarily mean that no action is required.  Only you can decide that. 
The ratings are provided in the text and highlighted with a coloured icon.  A Green icon is associated with low point values (i.e. this is not an issue that you consider to be important or it is an activity that you already undertake), a Yellow icon is associated with medium point values, and a Red icon is associated with higher point values (i.e. this is an important issue for you or an activity that you don't already undertake that you might want to consider). 
Displaying Priority Ratings
A chart illustrating the ratings in graphical form will be drawn when you click the View Rating button in Step 3.  The chart compares your ratings to the average ratings for other managers.  You can also  review your ratings by topic and sub-topic.
Links to Information Sheets
Lastly, Step 3 provides links to more detailed Information Sheets that we have developed.  Each information sheet takes a specific issue and briefly discusses why it is important, what is involved, and what resources may be available to help you.  Links are provided to various on-line resources specifically related to that issue.  For example, the sheets provide links to resources that can help you in developing a business plan or conducting staff evaluations.
We recommend that you use these materials to make a short-list of maybe 8 to 10 actions that would benefit your business. You likely can't focus on all of them right now.  Instead, review your list, maybe discuss it with others, and pick perhaps three or four items that are actionable and likely to provide the greatest return on your time and investment.   Some of the factors that you may want to consider when deciding between potential actions are:
  • How critical is this issue for my business?
  • Do I have the time and resources needed to take action on this issue?
  • How likely is it that my actions would be successful?  
  • If successful, how significant are the benefits likely to be?  What other impacts might result?
Step 4:  Prepare or Update Your Action Plan

Once you've defined your priorities, it's time to proceed to Step 4.   We don't want you to leave without having an action plan in hand.  Research indicates that people are much more likely to act if they have developed a formal plan!  The purpose of Step 4 is to help you develop (or update) strategies and an action plan.  You will be prompted to define your strategies in terms of:
  • How will implementing this strategy benefit your business?
  • What actions will you take to implement this strategy? 
  • Who is responsible for implementation?
  • What resources (time, money and other) will you commit? 
  • What are the key dates or milestones for implementation? 
  • What outside resources will you utilize?
To assist you in this process, we provide some examples as well as links to resources that may be able to assist you in developing and, better yet, implementing your action plans.  You will also be asked to come back periodically to report on what progress you have made.  You can have as many strategies as you want on the system.  All information that you have entered, including the strategies, may be accessed in the future by providing your username and password.