You Need an Operations Assessment Before Year-End. Here’s Why...
- Louisa Thiessen
- Sep 17
- 4 min read
We are one quarter away from the end of the year. Are you on track to hit your business goals?
Do you even know?
Most small business owners don’t. They’re so busy working in the business, they haven’t actually looked at the business in months.
When I start working with a client, the very first thing we do is an operations assessment. Because if you don’t know where you’re going or where you are, you’re probably not going to hit your goals.
If you’re thinking, “Well, I don’t have operations to assess,” I hate to break it to you, but you’re wrong.
If you’re delivering services for money, you have operations, even if there are no formal systems managing them.
What’s in an Operations Assessment
An operations assessment is a look under the hood of your business. We identify your vision and goals, and we make sure your systems, finances, and operations are working for you, not against you.
We want you to overcome challenges and reach your goals while working in a way that feels good for you.
An operations assessment examines:
Your systems and processes. How is work getting done, and what bottlenecks are slowing you down?
Your goals. Are they SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) or are they wishful thinking you hope will just manifest?
Your finances. It’s not just about revenue. We look for the places where hidden expenses are quietly draining your profit.
Your marketing. Is the time and money you’re investing in bringing in customers delivering a return?
Your team. We assess whether the right people are in the right seats. And we sniff out signs of burnout before they spark a wildfire.
This isn't a theory, and it’s not a checklist. This is a breakdown of where your challenges lie and where there are opportunities for you to unlock.
Every Small Business Needs an Operations Assessment
The difference between a goal and a dream is a plan, and you can’t make a plan without knowing where you’re starting from.If you’re setting goals without assessing your operations first, you’re flying blind. You really have no idea if what you’re planning is realistic.
What an Operations Assessment Does for Your Business
Reduces the stress of the unknown. An operations assessment creates clarity, confidence, and a sense of control over the direction of your business.
Plugs money leaks. Ever had a month when revenue was good, but you don’t know where the money went? An operations assessment finds those quiet leaks slowing down your cash flow.
Improves efficiency. Small business owners lose an average of 96 minutes of productivity daily to inefficient processes. That’s three weeks of lost time a year. An operations assessment uncovers bottlenecks to make your team more productive.
Validates tough decisions. Sometimes, owning a business means doing hard things. (Like letting people go or discontinuing a favorite offer.) An operations assessment provides the data to reassure you it’s the right decision.
Prevents burnout. Growth without systems leads to chaos, and that’s not a good working environment for you or your team.
Every business is unique - and every business owner has blind spots when it comes to their baby. You might get some improvement using a general “operations audit checklist” you find online, but for meaningful results, you need a deep assessment tailored to your business.
The Top Blind Spots Operations Assessments Uncover
Since they’re custom to each business, every operations assessment we do is unique. But there are a few blind spots that tend to show up again and again.
Financial clarity: Many business owners don’t understand their profit and loss until tax time. Staying on top of it year-round makes you more profitable. It can also help you build a strategy to lower your taxes.
Unrealistic goals: It’s easy to buy into the LinkedIn bro hype about building a 7-figure business. An operations assessment can reveal if there’s a realistic path to your goal or if you’re just dreaming.
Pricing gaps: Owners often underestimate how many customers at their current price it would take to reach their goals. They find they need to either increase capacity, increase prices, or reimagine their goal.
Team misalignment: Negativity is contagious. One bad fit can drain the morale of the entire team. You might know who needs to go, but you feel bad and drag your feet. An operations assessment provides the external validation you need to take action.
Level of support needed: Your assessment shows if your existing team is capable of reaching your goals. It might uncover hiring needs. Or it might indicate the need for an OBM or VA.
Close Out the Year With Clarity
Don’t carry feelings of chaos and overwhelm into 2026. A detailed operations report and 90-Day Roadmap help you strengthen your business before the end of the year.
Find out if you’re going to hit this year’s goals (and if not, why not). Identify some quick wins to immediately boost profitability (like canceling subscriptions you’d forgotten about).
An assessment now lets you make a clear, concrete plan for what you can accomplish in 2026 and how you’ll get there.
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