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Section One - Ownership

Please rate, with a score of 1 to 5, the following statements about your business.

1.1 We have a refined and up-to-date business plan for our company.

In order to have a 5/5 rating for this section you must have a complete business plan that includes a plan for at least the next 3 years, a marketing plan,a financial forecast and an executive summary. Further, for a 5/5 rating the business plan must be made available to all senior level stakeholders.

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1.2 We have a clearly defined leadership development program.

In order to have a 5/5 rating for this section you must have a written document that stipulates your plans for the development of your leadership team that might include prospective leadership development programs, recommended reading list and a defined budget for leadership development.

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1.3 We have a clear business continuity and contingency plan and infrastructure.

In order to have a 5/5 rating for this section you must have legally reviewed terms of trade, disclaimers and a privacy policy. You must also have a robust contingency plan that covers any possible long term absence of a key member of the team. Lastly, you should have ‘key man’ insurance to cover any members of the team that are truly ‘key’ to the survival of the company.

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1.4 We have a documented ‘threat’ analysis or ‘Iceberg Spotting’ plan and procedure.

In order to have a 5/5 rating for this section you must have a written plan for the regular (at least quarterly) review of threats to business continuity as well as a log that tracks (a) the review process and (b) any identified threats and (c) any recommended actions and (d) any completed actions.

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1.5 We have a documented Social Responsibility plan.

In order to have a 5/5 rating for this section you must have a clear statement about, and plan to execute, a social responsibility program for your company as well as a log or file structure to measure and track progress in this area. The Social Responsibility plan should be digitally available for all staff and the company should have a plan in place to meet twice per year to check progress and adjust any ongoing plans.

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Section Two - Marketing

Please rate, with a score of 1 to 5, the following statements about your business

2.1 We have a solid, attractive, search engine optimized and strategic website

In order to have a 5/5 rating for this section you must have a website that does well with organic search, creates audience engagement and helps you build your prospect/client list.

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2.2 We have a clearly defined social media presence and plan.

In order to have a 5/5 rating for this section you must have a social media presence on the platforms that are most important to your target market as well as clearly defined (a) targets (likes, reviews, comments), (b) messaging plan and (c) content repurposing map/plan. (This must be an approved written document.)

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2.3 We have a completed and approved branding guidelines document for our company.

In order to have a 5/5 rating for this section you must have a complete branding guidelines document that clearly states your company colors, imagery and guidelines for users of your brand. The document must be dated (updated at least once per year) and must be available in digital form for easy sharing with your team and any design/marketing teams you work with.

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2.4 We have an excellent system of marketing metrics; we measure our activities effectively.

In order to have a 5/5 rating for this section you must be able to easily report on the cost of client acquisition, overall marketing spend, individual marketing campaign spends and the lifetime value of a client.

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2.5 We generate effective marketing review reports on a regular basis.

In order to have a 5/5 rating for this section you must have a clear statement about how often marketing reports will be completed and then you must generate (and archive digitally) your reports. Reports must accurately include information about budget/actual marketing spends, cost of lead acquisition, campaign results, repurchasing frequency and conversion averages.

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Section Three - Operations

Please rate, with a score of 1 to 5, the following statements about your business.

3.1 We have an Information Technology plan (including budget).

In order to have a 5/5 rating for this section you must have a plan for the acquisition, maintenance and upgrade of your existing IT infrastructure which includes your computers, phones, tablets, web servers and any other technology that your business depends upon. You must also have up-to-date virus protection and routine off-site back-ups.

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3.2 We have a business template and document management system

In order to have a 5/5 rating for this section you must have all regularly used documents saved as version-tracked templates in a central (and backed-up) folder that is accessible to your team (so that they do not store local out-of-version copies). You must also have a system for tracking all of your documents so that they are easy to find and manage (i.e., serial numbers or effective file-numbering system).

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3.3 We have a complete and up-to-date Role Map™

In order to have a 5/5 rating for this section you must have a complete and up-to-date Role Map of your company including highlighted areas of improvement and a strategic plan for the resolution of those areas.

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3.4 We have a robust and effective CRM system.

In order to have a 5/5 rating for this section you must have a system for tracking all of your prospects and clients so that you can quickly and easily identify them, contact them and look up their purchasing/marketing status and contact history. Further, the system must either be cloud-based or protected by a robust and regularly scheduled off-site backup system.

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3.5 We have a Customer Service handbook

In order to have a 5/5 rating for this section you must have a complete and accurate (dated and updated at least once per year) handbook that describes your company’s customer service ethos, messaging and escalation procedures. Further, the handbook must be digitally available to any member of your frontline or customer-facing employees.

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Section Three - Operations s (continued)

Please rate, with a score of 1 to 5, the following statements about your business.

3.6 We have an effective and incremental improvement management system.

In order to have a 5/5 rating for this section you must have a system for tracking and fixing problems. The system must include a systematic (numbered) way for tracking problems, the current status of each problem, an audit to confirm resolution and then, at least once per quarter, a review to work on prevention of reoccurrence.

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3.7 We have a Procedures Manual.

In order to have a 5/5 rating for this section you must have a system for tracking and fixing problems. The system must include a systematic (numbered) way for tracking problems, the current status of each problem, an audit to confirm resolution and then, at least once per quarter, a review to work on prevention of reoccurrence.

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3.7 We have a Procedures Manual.

In order to have a 5/5 rating for this section you must have a complete, dated (and up-to-date) manual that includes any and all recurring procedures in your company’s operating cycle. The manual must be reviewed regularly with updates and version tracking. The manual must also be available — in whole or in part as the case may be — to your employees and anyone else responsible for processes in the company. The manual should be sorted by department and the processes should be numbered with individual version tracking. The manual must be stored centrally so that team members may not accidentally use outdated versions that they have stored locally.

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3.8 We produce a regular Operations Report.

In order to have a 5/5 rating for this section you must have a regular Operations Report procedure that calls for a regular (weekly/monthly/quarterly) report that provides information about current operations including project status, on-time delivery, customer service updates, improvement updates, personnel information and budget versus actual reports. This report must be created using a report template and the reports must be saved and archived digitally.

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Section Four - Finance

Please rate, with a score of 1 to 5, the following statements about your business.

4.1 We have a solid and robust accounting system in our company.

In order to have a 5/5 rating for this section you must have a software-based accounting system for your company that tracks things including sales, invoicing, accounts payable, accounts receivable, bank balances, loans, prepayments, payroll and all other financial accounting aspects of your company. The system must be backed up regularly (at least weekly) and the back-ups (or copies) must be stored offsite.

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4.2 We have a robust sales order processing system that leads from sale to invoice to payment efficiently.

In order to have a 5/5 rating for this section you must be able to report historically and in close to real-time about your sales, invoicing and payment status. You must also provide your clients with a formal order confirmation and customer service contact details.

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4.3 We have excellent processes for accounts payable.

In order to have a 5/5 rating for this section you must have accurate and aged information about all pending payments and you must endeavor to make all payments within the agreed payment terms. Failing that, you can still achieve a 5/5 rating by having a system for notifying suppliers in advance so that they are not surprised by your cash flow issues

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4.4 We have excellent processes for invoicing and collecting payments.

In order to have a 5/5 rating for this section you must track all inbound sales and, where payment does not immediately accompany the sale, a system for invoicing clients within 24 hours of receiving their order. You must also have a system for debt collection that includes well-crafted form letters (at least three) that are sent to clients who are late with payments. Further, you must have a system in place wherein you generate a regular (weekly/monthly) Accounts Receivable report that can be shared with the various team members who should be aware of late paying clients. And, you must have a policy and procedure for putting a client on ‘hold’ to prevent further purchases once their account has become unacceptably late.

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4.5 We have approved accounting templates for invoices, letters, reports and other accounting-related documentation.

In order to have a 5/5 rating for this section you must have complete templates for all accounting documentation.

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Section Four - Finance (continued)

Please rate, with a score of 1 to 5, the following statements about your business.

4.6 We produce a regular Accounts Department report.

In order to have a 5/5 rating for this section you must have a regular Accounting report procedure that involves a regular reporting cycle (weekly or monthly or quarterly) and reports on all vital accounting information including existing bank balances and investments, accounts receivable, accounts payable, budget versus actual and a cash flow forecast. Further, and key, is that you must produce monthly management accounts (profit and loss, balance sheet).

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Section Five - People

Please rate, with a score of 1 to 5, the following statements about your business.

5.1 We have a system for the effective sourcing, hiring and induction of new staff members.

In order to have a 5/5 rating for this section you must have document procedures for recruiting (scripted interviews), evaluating, vetting and recruiting new members of staff. Further, you need a written and scripted procedure for on-boarding them into the company.

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5.2 We have excellent and complete Personnel Files

In order to have a 5/5 rating for this section you must have a complete and up-to-date filing system wherein every single member of the team has an up-to-date file that includes a full history of their employment including training, reprimands, promotions and staff reviews. The file must have a frontpage template that tracks the employee's employment history and then copies of all related documentation. These files must be secure (from prying eyes) and they must be backed up off-site.

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5.3 We have a staff review procedure.

In order to have a 5/5 rating for this section you must have regularly scheduled (and tracked) staff reviews with all members of staff. Staff reviews should happen at least twice per year and must be logged in the Personnel Files.

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5.4 We have a Culture Manifesto.

In order to have a 5/5 rating for this section you must have an approved, dated and updated (at least once per year) document that details the company culture which will include company values, company mission and guidelines for conflict resolution and team building processes.

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5.5 We have a team development plan and system.

In order to have a 5/5 rating for this section you must have an approved dated and updated staff development plan that will include some specific reference to the kind of development your staff requires, prospective training programs, recommended reading and a system for encouraging and measuring staff development. All staff development (training, evaluation etc.) must be tracked in the Personnel Files.

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Section Five - People (continued)

Please rate, with a score of 1 to 5, the following statements about your business.

5.6 We create regular Personnel Reports.

In order to have a 5/5 rating for this section you must produce regular personnel reports that detail information such as overall staff performance, individual stand out performance, personnel related challenges, projected staffing requirements and budget versus actual numbers.

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OVERALL BF SCOR

Result

Audit Overview - Overall Scoring

* A score of 50 or less indicates a great deal of work required to move toward proper Business Freedom.
* A score of 51-75 indicates excellent progress and a significant amount of additional work to achieve Business Freedom.
* A score of 75-100 indicates potential levels of Business Freedom and requirements for refinements for true Business Freedom.
* A score of 100 - 125 indicates a solid likelihood of some Business Freedom and some refinements for complete Business Freedom.
* A score of 125 - 150 indicates Business Freedom or an owner that is extremely close to Business Freedom.

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