How ready is your business to scale — or sell?

How much of your new business comes from a systematic BD process versus your personal relationships and reputation alone?

Do you have a clearly defined and documented sales process that your team can follow without you in the room?

Can you reliably forecast your revenue three months ahead with reasonable confidence?

How diversified is your client base? What proportion does your single largest client represent?

Do you know your cost of customer acquisition, and do you actively measure the return on your BD investment?

Could your business operate effectively for two weeks if you were completely unavailable — without losing a client or a key opportunity?

Do you have a second-in-command who can make commercial and operational decisions independently?

How well does your team win and manage client relationships without your direct involvement?

Do your key people have clearly defined roles, accountabilities and performance expectations in writing?

How would you rate your team's engagement, retention and overall culture — honestly?

Are your core delivery and operational processes documented and consistently followed — or do they depend on who is in the room?

How long would it take to onboard a new senior hire to full productivity — without it significantly disrupting operations?

Do you use a CRM or equivalent system to manage your pipeline, client history and BD activity — and does your whole team use it?

How standardised is your client delivery — could a new team member replicate a quality outcome by following your process?

Do you have real-time or near real-time visibility into your business performance — jobs, utilisation, margins, staff productivity?

Do you review management accounts monthly, and do you understand the story behind the numbers — not just the totals?

Do you know your gross margin by client, service line or project — and do you use this to make decisions?

Do you have a forward-looking budget or financial plan, and do you actively track performance against it?

How healthy is your working capital position — do you have sufficient reserves to absorb a slow quarter or an unexpected cost?

Is your revenue recurring or retainer-based in any meaningful proportion — or is it almost entirely project or transactional?

Have you articulated a clear vision for where this business is going in the next 3–5 years — and does your team understand it?

Would a potential buyer or investor be able to understand the value, risk and growth potential of your business — without a conversation with you?

Are your client contracts, IP, agreements and key commercial arrangements properly documented, current and in your name (not yours personally)?

Is your business valued on earnings or demonstrable enterprise value — or is it effectively a high-paying job that stops when you do?

Have you ever had an external, independent assessment of your business value — and do you have a sense of what it would be worth today?