Fix this First In 5 minutes, discover the single biggest constraint holding your garage business back. This survey diagnoses whether your primary challenge is Sales, Profit, or Operations — so you know exactly where to focus first. Your answers are scored automatically. Be honest — there are no right or wrong answers, only insights. Name Email Do you pay yourself every month? The owner is typically the last to get paid. If you cannot pay yourself in full every month, it is a sign of a cash flow problem. No Yes None Is every job completed on time and at the price quoted? (assuming the customer approved any unforeseen additional costs) Most small businesses over-estimate how many leads they convert into sales.Leads are enquiries, quotes, phone calls and emails that you send or receive.The conversion rate is the number of sales resulting from these leads, normally expressed as a percentage. Yes No None Does paying VAT & Taxes cause cash flow problems? The delay between receiving payments and paying taxes can stress cash flow. VAT and tax bills are a known, predictable cost — struggling to pay them on time is a warning sign. Yes No None Is every job completed on time and at the price quoted? (assuming the customer approved any unforeseen additional costs) Calm seas do not make great sailors, but if you are always battling against unrealistic schedules and pricing points there may be a problem with how jobs are quoted.Unless there is a problem with a job that is impossible to predict all work should be completed on time and within budget.Is this true of your garage? Yes No None What is your daily Breakeven value? Breakeven Value is the amount you must take in a day to cover your Cost of Doing Business.This internal metric is a Key Performance Indicator (KPI) that every business owner should know. Are all invoices settled within 30 days? Prompt payment is essential for cash flow, late payment is a symptom of poor management, slack business processes or the wrong type of customer.All work should be paid for within agreed timescales, it is not uncommon to wait 30, 60 or even 90 days for payment when dealing with account customers.If possible negotiate terms for faster payments. Yes No None Did you have negative cash flow at any point in the last 12 months? Negative cash flow occurs when outgoings exceed income. If this happened at any point in the last 12 months — even briefly — it is worth investigating the cause. Yes No None Do you carry debt to cover day-to-day operating costs? (excluding mortgages) For example:OverdraftsCredit CardsLoans used to cover wages or supplier billsHire Purchase or Lease Agreements on essential equipmentStrategic investment debt is normal. Debt used to cover running costs is a warning sign. Yes No None Is the overall margin on parts above 33%? Parts margin and mark up is a revenue stream most garages do not exploit fully.Measuring the overall margin is a KPI that allows for fluctuations in margin across different parts and suppliers. Yes No None Does your average customer use your services more than once per year? Repeat custom is just one way to leverage your customers, and is an indicator of customer satisfaction. Yes No None Do you know which of your products or services returns the most profit? Garages offer a wide range of products and services, some are more profitable than others.Knowing the gross profit of each product/service can help when making decisions to increase profits. Yes No None How many months of operating costs do you have in savings? Cash in the bank allows a business to survive unexpected events. Aim for 3 to 6 months as a minimum safety net — anything above 6 months should be actively invested. Less than 3 months 3 to 6 months More than 6 months None Do you sell more than 70% of your available capacity? This covers billable hours, MOT slots, and any other bookable services. If you are regularly below 70%, there may be room to grow revenue without adding costs. Yes No None Do you have any vacancies, or staffing issues? Yes No None Does every member of staff know the limits of their responsibility and authority? Clarity on roles and decision-making authority reduces bottlenecks and builds a more resilient team. Yes No None Does the business have a succession plan for key roles? Yes No None Do you rank on the first page of popular search engines for your primary product offer? Yes No Don't Know None How many reviews do you have? Fewer than 25 25 to 100 More than 100 More than 500 None How long could the business run for without the Owner(s) present? This question aims to establish the stage at which the business is operating.If the owner(s) were to go on holiday and were not able to be contacted (they can still monitor business performance) how long would it be before the staff needed your help? 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Indefinitely None Time's up
