Business Health Check: A 20-Question Self-Assessment

Most business owners have a feeling about how their company is doing. The bank balance looks okay. Clients seem happy. The team is not complaining too loudly.

But feelings are not diagnostics. And in my experience working with Brazilian SMBs, the gap between perception and reality is often significant — sometimes dangerously so.

This self-assessment is designed to replace feelings with structured evaluation. Twenty questions across five dimensions. Score each honestly, and you will have a clear picture of where your business stands and where it needs attention. Learn more about our financial strategy services.

How to Use This Assessment

For each question, score yourself from 0 to 4:

• 0 — We do not do this at all
• 1 — We do this occasionally or poorly
• 2 — We do this sometimes with mixed results
• 3 — We do this consistently with good results
• 4 — We excel at this and it is a competitive advantage

Be honest. Nobody sees this but you. Aspirational scoring defeats the purpose.

Dimension 1: Financial Health (Questions 1-4)

Question 1: Monthly Financial Reporting

Do you have a management P&L that you review monthly, that you trust, and that drives decisions?

Not a tax report from your contador. A management report structured around how you actually run the business — by product line, client segment, or business unit. One that distinguishes between cash and accrual, and that you actually look at before making investment or hiring decisions.

Score 4 if: You have a management P&L reviewed monthly by the leadership team, with trend analysis and variance explanations. It directly informs quarterly planning.

Score 0 if: You rely on bank balance checks and your accounting firm’s tax-oriented reports.

Question 2: Cash Flow Forecasting

Do you maintain a rolling cash flow forecast of at least 8 weeks?

Cash is oxygen. In Brazil, where payment terms are long and receivables are uncertain, forecasting cash flow is not optional — it is survival.

Score 4 if: You have a rolling 12-week cash flow forecast updated weekly, with scenario modeling for best/worst cases.

Score 0 if: You check your bank balance daily and hope for the best.

Question 3: Margin Analysis

Do you know the profitability of each product line, service, or major client?

Revenue is vanity, margin is sanity. Many Brazilian SMBs have clients or products they think are profitable but are actually losing money after fully loaded costs.

Score 4 if: You calculate contribution margin by product/service/client quarterly, and have exited unprofitable segments.

Score 0 if: You know total revenue and total costs but nothing in between.

Question 4: Financial Reserves

Do you maintain cash reserves equal to at least three months of fixed operating expenses?

In an economy with Brazil’s volatility — currency swings, political uncertainty, sudden regulatory changes — reserves are not conservative. They are pragmatic.

Score 4 if: You maintain six or more months of reserves in liquid investments, with a formal reserve policy.

Score 0 if: Every real that comes in goes right back out.

Dimension 2: Operations (Questions 5-8)

Question 5: Process Documentation

Are your core processes documented such that a new hire could follow them?

This is the foundation of scalability. If critical knowledge lives only in people’s heads, your business is one resignation away from disruption.

Score 4 if: Your top 20 processes are documented, reviewed annually, and used for onboarding.

Score 0 if: Processes exist only as tribal knowledge passed verbally.

Question 6: Delivery Consistency

Do clients receive a consistent experience regardless of which team member handles their matter?

Inconsistency is the tax you pay for lack of systems. It leads to client churn, rework, and team frustration.

Score 4 if: You have quality standards, checklists, and regular quality reviews. Client satisfaction is measured and stable.

Score 0 if: Quality depends entirely on which person does the work.

Question 7: Technology Utilization

Are you using technology to automate routine tasks and capture data?

This is not about having the latest tools. It is about whether your team spends time on activities that software could handle: manual data entry, email-based approvals, spreadsheet-based project tracking.

Score 4 if: Core workflows are digitized, data is captured automatically, and the team focuses on judgment work.

Score 0 if: Most work is manual, paper-based, or conducted via email and WhatsApp.

Question 8: Capacity Management

Do you know your current capacity utilization and can you forecast it 90 days out?

Overwork leads to burnout and quality problems. Underutilization bleeds margin. Both are invisible without measurement.

Score 4 if: You track utilization by team and individual, forecast demand quarterly, and adjust capacity proactively.

Score 0 if: You discover capacity problems only when deadlines are missed or people quit.

Dimension 3: Market Position (Questions 9-12)

Question 9: Client Concentration

Is your revenue distributed such that no single client represents more than 15% of total revenue?

Client concentration is one of the most dangerous risks for SMBs. Losing a client that represents 30% of revenue is not a setback — it is a crisis.

Score 4 if: No client exceeds 10% of revenue and you actively manage concentration risk.

Score 0 if: One or two clients represent 30% or more of revenue.

Question 10: Competitive Differentiation

Can you articulate in one sentence why clients choose you over competitors?

If you cannot, your team cannot either. And if your team cannot, your value proposition is price — which is the weakest possible position.

Score 4 if: You have a clear, documented value proposition that the entire team can articulate, validated by client feedback.

Score 0 if: Clients choose you based on price, personal relationships, or inertia.

Question 11: Pipeline Visibility

Do you have visibility into your sales pipeline 90 days forward?

Revenue surprises — both positive and negative — are symptoms of pipeline blindness. You cannot manage what you cannot see.

Score 4 if: You maintain a CRM with pipeline stages, conversion rates, and forecast accuracy above 80%.

Score 0 if: New business arrives unpredictably and you have no sales pipeline visibility.

Question 12: Client Retention

Do you measure client retention and proactively manage at-risk relationships?

Acquiring a new client costs 5-7x more than retaining an existing one. Yet most SMBs invest disproportionately in acquisition and neglect retention.

Score 4 if: You track retention rates, conduct regular client satisfaction surveys, and have a formal at-risk client intervention process.

Score 0 if: You learn about unhappy clients only when they leave.

Dimension 4: Team (Questions 13-16)

Question 13: Talent Retention

Is your annual voluntary turnover below 15%?

In Brazil’s competitive labor market, some turnover is inevitable. But excessive turnover signals management, compensation, or culture problems — and each departure costs 6-12 months of salary in replacement costs.

Score 4 if: Voluntary turnover is below 10%, exit interviews are conducted, and retention strategies are informed by data.

Score 0 if: Turnover exceeds 25% and you are not sure why people leave.

Question 14: Management Depth

Can your business operate normally for two weeks without the founder/CEO?

This is the ultimate test of management depth. If the answer is no, you have a person-dependency risk that threatens the business.

Score 4 if: The management team runs operations independently, and the founder’s absence is barely noticeable for routine operations.

Score 0 if: The founder’s absence for more than two days creates operational disruption.

Question 15: Performance Management

Do all employees receive regular performance feedback and have clear development plans?

In Brazilian SMBs, performance feedback is often informal, inconsistent, and avoided. This breeds mediocrity because high performers feel unrecognized and low performers face no consequences.

Score 4 if: Quarterly performance reviews with documented goals, feedback, and development plans for every employee.

Score 0 if: Performance is never formally discussed except during terminations.

Question 16: Succession Planning

Do you have identified successors for your top three roles?

This is not just about the founder. If your best salesperson, operations lead, or finance person leaves tomorrow, do you have someone who can step in?

Score 4 if: Successors are identified and being actively developed for all critical roles.

Score 0 if: You have not thought about succession for any role.

Dimension 5: Compliance and Risk (Questions 17-20)

Question 17: Tax Compliance

Are all tax obligations current and is your tax regime optimized annually?

In Brazil, tax compliance is not just about avoiding penalties — it is about optimizing within the system. Many SMBs overpay by tens of thousands of reais annually because they never simulate alternative regimes.

Score 4 if: All obligations are current, regime is simulated annually, and you have a proactive tax strategy.

Score 0 if: You have outstanding tax debts or have never evaluated your tax regime.

Question 18: Labor Compliance

Are employment practices fully compliant with CLT and any applicable union agreements?

Labor litigation is the number one legal risk for Brazilian SMBs. One poorly managed termination can cost R$50,000-R$200,000 in labor court.

Score 4 if: HR practices are documented, compliant, and reviewed annually by a labor specialist.

Score 0 if: Employment practices are informal and you have active labor claims.

Question 19: Data Protection

Are you compliant with LGPD for client and employee data?

The LGPD is no longer theoretical. ANPD enforcement is increasing, and client expectations around data protection are rising.

Score 4 if: You have a documented privacy program, a DPO (even if part-time), and conduct regular data audits.

Score 0 if: You have not addressed LGPD at all.

Question 20: Insurance and Risk Management

Do you have adequate insurance coverage and a documented risk management approach?

Most Brazilian SMBs are underinsured. They carry basic property insurance but neglect professional liability, key-person insurance, and business interruption coverage.

Score 4 if: You have comprehensive insurance, review coverage annually, and maintain a risk register.

Score 0 if: You carry minimal or no insurance beyond what is legally required.

Scoring Your Results

Add up your scores across all 20 questions. Maximum possible: 80.

65-80: Strong Foundation

Your business has solid fundamentals. Focus on the one or two areas where you scored lowest and refine them. You are in a position to pursue aggressive growth because your foundation can support it.

45-64: Clear Gaps

Your business has strengths but also meaningful vulnerabilities. Identify the dimension with the lowest total score and prioritize it for the next quarter. Most Brazilian SMBs in the R$5M-R$20M range land here.

25-44: Structural Issues

Multiple areas need attention. Trying to fix everything at once will overwhelm the organization. Pick the two lowest-scoring questions and focus exclusively on those for 90 days. Then reassess.

Below 25: Urgent Intervention

The business has significant structural risks that threaten its sustainability. Consider engaging external support to prioritize and address the most critical gaps. This is not about optimization — it is about stabilization.

What to Do With Your Score

The score itself is just a starting point. The real value is in the patterns it reveals.

Look at dimensional scores: If you scored 14/16 in Operations but 4/16 in Financial Health, you know exactly where to focus. The overall number matters less than where the gaps are.

Compare over time: Run this assessment quarterly. A score that improves from 38 to 52 over two quarters tells you more than any single snapshot.

Share with your team: Have your management team complete this independently, then compare scores. The gaps between your perception and theirs reveal blind spots.

For a more detailed, interactive version of this assessment with automated benchmarking against peers in your industry and revenue band, try our full assessment wizard. It takes about 15 minutes and generates a customized action plan.

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Ready for the full diagnostic? Take the Arizen Business Health Assessment — interactive, benchmarked, and actionable.