How healthy is my business?

An intriguing new interactive guide from the BusinessLink website provides an opportunity for students to consider what factors may threaten the survival of a business…

You can access the interactive health-check here

I dutifully completed the guide on behalf of Tutor2u Limited and my result was as follows:

“From the answers you have provided your business is in a fairly healthy state, but certain areas may need attention to prevent difficulties arising further down the line.”

The areas I need to focus on include:

- Better controls over trader debtors (schools and colleges that dont pay their bills - a big problem for us)
- Key man insurance: the business is over-reliant on a small number of people (isnt every small business?)

How might students gain from using the health-check guide?

One way would be to split students into two groups. One group has to select the answers which it believes will generate the worst health report (i.e. profiling a business that is likely to face financial trouble). The other group tries to select answers that generate the best report. The students should be prepared to explain why their made their choices.

An alternative is to take a local case study business they are using on the course and find the answers to the questions posed. What are the results? Could management of the case study business be asked for their comments on the report findings?