Annual business health check template, with a records and systems review

What a business health check covers, and what most templates miss

A business health check is a once-a-year scored review of the whole company: direction, money, customers, people, operations and risk, ending in a short list of fixes the owner commits to. This one adds a seventh section on records and systems, because the history a company keeps in its email, CRM, finance and support tools is now an asset some owners can license, and few health checks ask about it.

Coaches feel the timing pressure first. McKinsey's research on the coming ownership transfer estimates that about six million US small and medium-size businesses will face an ownership transition by 2035 as baby boomers retire, and that more than half of small-business owners are now over 55. Owners at that stage are already asking what the business holds and what it is worth; a records review gives them a factual answer on one part of that question.

When to use this template

Use it whenever an owner is already stepping back to look at the whole business:

• The annual planning session, ideally four to six weeks before the budget is locked.
• The first month of a new coaching engagement, as a baseline you rescore a year later.
• Succession or sale readiness conversations, where an inventory of assets is needed anyway.
• After a major system change, such as a new ERP, CRM or helpdesk, when old platforms may be switched off.

Sections 1 to 6 work for a company of any size. The records section only points toward a licensing conversation when the company reached 50+ full-time employees at peak (contractors excluded) and has several years of documented operations.

The business health check template

Copy the sections below into your own document. Score each line from 1 to 5 and write one sentence of evidence next to every score. The owner scores first; the coach challenges each score in the session.

Section 1: Direction and leadership

Section 2: Financial health

Section 3: Customers and market

Section 4: People and culture

Section 5: Operations and delivery

Section 6: Risk and compliance

Section 7: Records and systems review

How to read the records and systems score

Add the four scored lines in Section 7 for a maximum of 20, then read the total together with the two written answers.

A strong score is a reason for a short, separate conversation, not a decision. The who qualifies page sets out the full baseline SourceX applies.

How to personalize the template for each client

For a client that wants a deeper operational pass, pair this review with the operations audit checklist, which maps where each workflow's records live. A newly appointed leader can reuse Section 7 inside a first 100 days plan.

Follow-up timing after the session

1. Within two working days: send the scored summary and the three fixes the owner chose. Keep Section 7 in the summary even if it scored low.
2. Within two weeks: whoever runs IT or finance confirms the system list and earliest years in writing.
3. Within 30 days: any export at risk is saved before the next renewal or migration date.
4. At 90 days: review progress on the three fixes and, if the records score was strong, ask whether the owner wants an introduction.
5. Next year: rescore with the same template so the totals stay comparable.

What never goes into a health check

• Exports, screenshots or samples of the company's records; the template asks where records live, never for the records.
• Customer names, employee details or any other personal data.
• An estimate of what the data is worth, or a promise that the company qualifies or will be paid.
• Typed reward amounts, or anything suggesting the review exists to earn a referral.

If the records section does lead to an introduction, log it separately, for example in a company introduction record, so the health check stays the client's own document.

How a strong records review leads to an introduction

When the owner is interested, the coach makes the introduction and SourceX takes it from there: qualifying the company on size, history, data breadth and rights, guiding a data inventory, agreeing price and terms with the owner, and managing buyer review, contracting and delivery. The company keeps ownership, the data is licensed rather than sold, and nothing is binding until the owner signs.

Partners earn 25% of the eligible platform fees SourceX actually collects from the referred company's licensing deals, capped at $100,000 per referred company, and the reward becomes payable only after the buyer pays and SourceX receives its fee. No reward is guaranteed, and it is never deducted from what the client receives. Tell the owner plainly that you are a registered partner, and check your coaching agreement and any professional code you follow before accepting a reward. Coaches who also consult can borrow the sequencing advice in the playbook for management consultants.

Next step

Run the template with your next annual planning client. If Section 7 scores well, register as a partner and send the owner your referral link so they can apply directly at sourcex.si/apply, or use the network opportunity finder to decide which other clients deserve the same review.