How healthy is your business and which areas can you improve?

How healthy is your business in areas of finance, operations, sales and people? To grow your business, you need to know what's going on in all facets of your enterprise, as well as how to improve and grow those areas.

To determine the health of your business, it's important that you take a holistic view of every aspect of your company. Knowing where you stand, can help you take the right action to manage your risks and to boost and grow your business. It's possible when you use the right business diagnostic tools.

What are business diagnostics tools?

Business diagnostic tools enable you to assess and manage risks, and develop strategies for improvement within your business.

Small businesses often have three pain points: managing cash flow (financial management), business interruption (caused by damage, theft or cyber-crime), and uncertainty about the future (owing to a lack of protection against modern-day risks).

With business diagnostic tools, you can identify pain points specific to your business by using self-assessment to answer a series of questions about your business profile.

The tool uses data to compare your business with other similar businesses and calculates a scientific score that shows the current health of your business. It goes further to highlight areas that you can improve on and can also recommend how to go about it.

Using technology to grow your knowledge about your business

Discovery Business Insurance partnered with Endeavor South Africa, a not-for-profit organisation that enables businesses to succeed. This partnership has seen the development of a state-of-the-art diagnostic tool, the Business Health Check, that asks businesses key questions to assess their business health in the areas of finance, operations, sales and people.

"On completing the Business Health Check, we provide businesses with recommendations and access to a network of partners who specialise in various business development areas," says Anton Ossip, Discovery Insure CEO.

How does the business diagnostic tool work?

Using the diagnostic tool helps you to assess and improve your business in three steps:

1. Complete the Business Health Check by answering a series of questions online about your business profile.
2. Get a business score, based on scientific calculations and gain actionable insights.
3. Get access to a network of partners and receive tailored responses and access to partner preferential rates

Benefits of a business diagnostic tool

The diagnostic tool benefits your business by:

• Making you aware of the areas that need to be developed further;
• Giving your business access to a network of providers at preferential rates; and
• Promoting business growth through positive behaviour changes as you continue to engage with partners that can help your business thrive.

In addition to a diagnostic tool, there are many more innovative technologies that you can apply to know more about and tackle the potential risks your business may face. This is another area where Discovery Business Insurance has applied technology for a more accurate risk assessment. Giving your business more certainty that you have all the protection you need, this includes:

• Drone technology that allows for an aerial view of buildings
• Thermal imaging which helps to detect hidden electrical faults; and
• Smart glasses technology which facilitates real-time collection of risk information and live analysis by a team of risk engineers.

Checking the health of your business regularly and knowing how to keep it in good health to grow are essential aspects of managing a business. Get in touch to learn more about using business diagnostic tools and other technologies to help protect and grow your company.

Our next article will explore the heart of your organisation - your people - and how you can attract talent and motivate them to do their best for your business.