Health Check
Good business practice adds value to a business. It involves identifying tasks that must be done to keep a business in good shape, and ensuring those tasks are carried out consistently and regularly.
This checklist helps Australian small businesses identify some of the tasks critical to good business practice. If you regularly undertake these tasks, you will be in a better position to manage and grow your business whatever conditions you face. Further, regularly undertaking these activities will reduce the pressure you may face at the end of financial year.
A business that follows good practice benefits in many ways, including:
- the business is more likely to be profitable, have better cash flow and operate with less financial risk
- the business may be easier to sell in the future, and possibly at a better price
- the business may find it easier to access external finance, including bank finance, if needed
- the business may be better placed to respond to future challenges and opportunities.
A checklist like this cannot be definitive. It is intended to start Australian small businesses thinking about the specific actions needed to put their business on the right track and keeping it there.
Below are some suggested ways to build this checklist into your business practices:
- incorporate the activities from the checklist you believe are relevant to your business into the agenda of your regular staff meetings
- allocate relevant activities from the checklist to specific staff
- require regular reports on the implementation of each activity
- incorporate due dates for relevant activities and tasks into your calendar
- incorporate activities from the checklist into the job descriptions and key performance indicators of relevant staff.
