SME Systems Health Check
How much of your week is your business losing to manual work? Answer honestly — this is a mirror, not a sales pitch.
Full guide: Your Excel isn’t a system, it’s a memory →
What the SME Systems Health Check measures
Ten questions about where your operation still depends on people retyping, checking and remembering: how many times an order gets typed, how you know today's stock, how reordering happens, where a job's documents live, what happens when your most experienced person is away for two weeks, when you see an accurate profit figure after month-end, how quotations are followed up, how you see a second site or entity, where the numbers for a decision come from, and how often data errors cost you money.
How to read your score
Each answer scores 0, 1 or 2, so the total runs from 0 to 20. Lower is better.
- 0 to 4, Systems-Ready: the operation runs on systems, not memory. Your next wins are refinements.
- 5 to 10, Held Together by Heroes: the business works because a few good people carry it. Move what is in their heads into systems, one process at a time.
- 11 to 15, The Spreadsheet Is the Business: the rules live in files and people's heads, so every growth step adds manual work and risk.
- 16 to 20, Running on Luck: errors, stockouts and late numbers are routine. Fix the one leak that costs the most before anything else.
What to do with your result
Pick the single leak that hurts most and fix that first; trying to fix everything at once is how system projects stall. If it is retyping, start with Excel automation for small businesses. If it is cash, use the free overdue invoice reminder writer and read order to cash. If it is knowledge stuck in one person's head, read Your Excel isn’t a system, it’s a memory.
Questions
Is the Systems Health Check free? Yes. It takes about 60 seconds, needs no email to see your score, and nothing you answer is sent anywhere.
What does a high score mean? A higher score means more of your operation depends on manual work and memory. 0 to 4 is systems-ready; 16 to 20 means errors and stockouts are likely routine.
Do I need an ERP if my score is high? Not necessarily. Many leaks can be fixed with better spreadsheets and simple automation first. An ERP makes sense when the same data has to flow through sales, stock and accounts every day.
