QAA Business Assessment
Business Assessment for SMEs: Find Your Strengths, Risks and Priorities
A structured business self-assessment designed to help owners and managers understand where the business is strong, where it is exposed, and what deserves attention next.
Understand your business. Plan your next steps. Review seven areas to identify strengths, risks and the priorities that need your attention.
The assessment and your result summary are free. The full report with an action plan is optional: $49.
No contact details needed to view your result. Continue later in this browser.
Looking for a consultant-led diagnostic rather than a self-assessment? Explore QAA Business Health Assessment.
What This Business Assessment Evaluates
A business health check across the seven areas where most small and mid-sized businesses win or lose: from cash and customers to the risks that could stop the business.
- Finance & liquidity
- Sales & customers
- Product & market position
- Operations & supply
- Team & leadership
- Strategy & decision-making
- Risk & continuity
What You Receive
- A view of seven business areasA status for each area your answers cover well enough, with the answers behind it.
- Up to three action prioritiesFree: where to act first. The full report adds what to do and how to track it.
- Optional full report — $49Suggested action and indicator for each priority, a 30/60/90-day plan and an action for every weak point.
How the Assessment Works
- Describe your business. Type, stage, team size, country and your current goal.
- Answer 35 core questions in seven steps. Follow-up questions appear only where an answer needs them, and “Don’t know” is always a valid answer.
- See your result straight away. If two answers contradict each other you are asked to clarify first; then you get a status for each area, the points needing immediate review, your strengths and up to three priorities.
- Keep it. Print it, save it as a PDF or have it emailed. No contact details are needed to see the result.
From Assessment to Action
The SME business assessment is the starting point of a path, not a one-off quiz. Each step is optional.
- Free AssessmentYour business diagnostic: area statuses, points needing review, strengths and three priorities.
- Full ReportA business improvement plan: the action and indicator for each priority, a 30/60/90-day plan and an action for every weak point.
- Expert SupportAn adviser’s written review of your result with a follow-up call, or an online consultation.
- 3-Month Improvement SupportFortnightly sessions, a written action plan and monthly progress reports, arranged after a consultation.
Choose the Level of Support You Need
Start free. Go deeper only if you need to.
Complete the assessment and review your initial result first. If you need a detailed report, expert interpretation or hands-on support, you can upgrade at the next step.
- Assessment and result summaryFreeStatus of the seven areas, points needing immediate review, strengths and your three priorities.
- Full report$49Action and indicator for each priority, a 30/60/90-day plan and an action for every weak point; right after payment.
- Expert review of your result$249A 2–3 page written review by an adviser and one 30-minute call.
- Online consultation$179A 60-minute video session with preparation and a written summary.
- 3-month accompaniment package$2,490Expert review, 6 fortnightly sessions, a written action plan, monthly progress reports and WhatsApp support; arranged after an online consultation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the business assessment free?
Yes. The assessment and your result summary are free. The full report with an action plan is optional and costs $49.
How long does it take?
There are 35 core questions in seven steps, with follow-up questions only where an answer needs them. Your answers are kept in this browser, so you can stop and continue later.
Do I need to give my contact details?
No. You see your result without any contact details. They are needed only if you ask an adviser to review your result or have the report emailed to you.
Is this an audit or a certification?
No. It is a structured business self-assessment based on your own answers. It does not verify figures, rank your business against others or give legal, tax or investment advice.
How is this different from the QAA Business Health Assessment service?
This is a self-assessment you complete online. The QAA Business Health Assessment is a consultant-led diagnostic in which advisers gather your data, score each dimension and present a 90-day plan.
Before you start
- The result is based on your own answers. It is not an audit or an independent assessment.
- There is no overall score and no ranking against other businesses.
- Rough figures for cash, receivables and your main customers will help you answer.
- "Don't know" is a valid answer. Where an area has too few answers, no firm status is given.
- Your individual answers stay in this browser, so you can stop and continue later. To improve the service we record anonymous usage data: the steps completed, business type, stage, team size, country, goal and the area statuses. Never your individual answers or contact details.
- Asking an adviser to review your result, or having the report emailed to you, is optional. Only then are your contact details and the result summary stored in QAA's customer records.
What it is. A self-assessment built on the areas used by established business-excellence frameworks such as the Baldrige Excellence Framework (leadership, strategy, customers, measurement, workforce, operations and results). It borrows their structure only. It is not a Baldrige assessment, it is not certified by any body and it has not been statistically validated.
How the areas are summarised. Each answer that can be ordered is placed on a five-step scale. An area gets a status only when at least 3 of its questions have a scored answer and those scored answers cover at least 70% of the questions that apply to you; otherwise it shows "Not enough information". "Don't know" is never counted as a bad answer; it is listed as missing information. Questions that do not apply to your business (for example, customer payment terms for a fully prepaid business) are left out rather than marked down.
Points needing immediate review are raised by specific answers (for example, being unable to meet next month's obligations), whatever the rest of the area looks like. When two answers seem to contradict each other, you are asked to clarify before the result is shown.
What it does not do. It does not verify figures, give legal, tax or investment advice, or rank your business against others. Your goal changes only the order of the priorities, never the status of an area. The thresholds are design choices that still need review by independent experts.
Method version bha-1.0.