Operational due diligence for growing businesses

A proper review looks at four things. Processes: how work actually flows through the business, including the workarounds and unwritten rules that keep things moving. Systems: whether your tools and software fit the size you are heading towards, not the size you were when you bought them. People: whether roles, responsibilities and decision-making are clear, or whether everything routes through the same few people. Data: whether you have the information you need to make good decisions, and whether anyone can actually find it.

Most businesses only review their operations when something goes wrong. By then, the workaround has become the process, the spreadsheet has become the system, and good people are spending their time keeping things running instead of moving the business forward.

An independent review, done before the cracks show, gives you time to fix things properly. It is cheaper, less disruptive, and far less stressful than waiting for a crisis.

We don't take the process map at its word. We spend time with the people doing the work, watch how things actually happen, and build a picture of the real operation. Then we set out what to do about it, in three horizons: immediate fixes that remove friction in weeks, medium-term changes that hold up as you grow, and long-term investments in systems and capability.

If you are planning to scale, or already scaling and feeling the strain, a 30-minute call is usually enough to tell where your operations will struggle next.

A deal is one of the most common moments to look hard at operations. That might be raising money, bringing in an investor or buying another business.

Before a deal, the question is whether the business can deliver the plan it is being valued on. Financial due diligence checks the numbers. It rarely checks whether the way the work gets done will hold up when volumes double. If an investor asks, it helps to have an answer backed by evidence.

After a deal, the question changes. There is usually money, ambition and pressure to move quickly. The risk is that growth lands on processes and systems that were built for a smaller business. Knowing where those weak points are early lets you fix them in the right order, rather than all at once.

In both cases, the most useful evidence comes from the people doing the work. They know where the workarounds are and which steps depend on one person. Leadership often does not.

Use these as a quick test. If you can't answer one with confidence, that is where to look first.

1. 01Could the business run for a fortnight without the founder?
2. 02Which processes can only one person run?
3. 03Is there one trusted source for customer and delivery data?
4. 04Where does work get passed between teams, and what gets lost there?
5. 05Which decisions still wait for the same few people?
6. 06Do your systems fit the size you are heading towards?
7. 07Which key tasks rely on spreadsheets or people remembering steps?
8. 08How much notice does operations get before new work arrives?
9. 09Are there any compliance or data risks that need action now?
10. 10Who owns each part of the growth plan, by name?

None of these needs a long project to answer. A few honest conversations with the people closest to the work will usually tell you more than any report.

Once you have the answers, sort them by risk and by how much they would cost to fix. Start with anything that puts customers or compliance at risk. Then deal with the cheap fixes, such as clearer rules, owners and routines. Leave the larger system changes until you know exactly what they need to do.